


The Gilded Machination

by NamelesslyNightlock



Series: when plans go awry [2]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Thor (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Apples of Idunn, Established Relationship, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Immortality, Insecurity, JARVIS should not be in charge of reconstruction, Jarvis (Iron Man movies) is a Good Bro, Loki (Marvel) Does What He Wants, Loki is an idiot, M/M, Mentions of homophobia, Mortality Feels, Pepper Potts Is a Good Bro, Protective Jarvis (Iron Man movies), Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, except Tony secretly thinks he's good at it, golden apples, serious liberties taken with Norse Mythology
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-18
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2019-04-24 15:16:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 25,803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14358165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NamelesslyNightlock/pseuds/NamelesslyNightlock
Summary: When the Norse god of mischief has taken up residence in your house, you tend to grow accustomed to a certain level of chaos. Finding strange items in the fridge is perfectly normal and Einherjar laying siege to the living room at random intervals is just an ordinary Wednesday. But lately, Loki has been disappearing for days at a time and that, at the very least, has Tony more than just a little concerned.





	1. Plan A: The Red Herring

**Author's Note:**

> This is a sequel to The Ostrich Strategy, if you haven't read that then this won't make a whole lot of sense. 
> 
> So, here it is, the obligatory golden apple fic because apparently I can't leave this story alone. 
> 
> Thanks to everyone who encouraged this, know that if it weren't for all of you who commented or left kudos, this series would have been five short chapters and nothing else. You're all amazing, thanks so much! (And I am _at least_ 70% sure that I have the chapter count right this time. I have a PLAN.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _a.k.a. distract the hell out of the guards (even if you don’t know you’re doing it)_

When the Norse god of mischief has taken up residence in your house, you tend to grow accustomed to a certain level of chaos.

Tony was used to the strange things he often found in the fridge which apparently _were_ food, and therefore didn’t go into the allocated ‘spell component’ fridge in the corner of the workshop. He was used to how pieces of his clothing went mysteriously missing every so often, because Loki, who could change his clothing and his face and his gender at will apparently couldn’t conjure Midgardian sweats as comfortable as Tony’s. And he was definitely used to the late night visits from Asgardian warriors at increasingly random intervals. However, things had been worse than usual lately, and Tony saw the Einherjar more often than not. Tony could still take it with a grain of salt, though. Loki had been purposefully antagonising Odin after all, keeping his mischief too small to result in an arrest but enough that it broke the terms of the agreement they had made after Odin had snapped and kidnapped Tony.

Tony had almost made a game of it, seeing how quickly he could annoy the Asgardians into leaving. Loki liked to try and outdo him, turning the warriors into rabbits or squirrels or equally cute things, and then JARVIS got in on the game and began greeting the Einherjar and politely offering them pleasantries whenever they arrived, no matter how angry they were.

But everyone has a breaking point, and Tony found his when he walked into his living room after a particularly gruelling press conference to find the place so packed with Einherjar that they hardly had the room to move. They were pressed in like sardines, back to chest, weapons that could be sheathed remaining so to conserve space while all others were held awkwardly close to their bodies as they tried not to slice each other accidentally. A few soldiers were perched on the back of the couch while others stood on the coffee table, and the television was leaning against the wall, screen cracked.

Loki wasn’t even there.

“Friend Tony,” said Rolf, the head of the Einherjar’s equivalent of a Loki Taskforce. Because, yes, they may have beaten each other up the first time they met but the dude was in Tony’s house so often at this point that they were on first name terms. “You know why we’re here.”

Sighing, Tony turned his eyes to the heavens. “What has he done this time?”

“He broke a fence,” said Rolf.

Tony blinked, and then checked Rolf’s face for evidence of a joke. But, it seemed, the Einherji was deadly serious, his eyes dark and angry.

“A… a fence?” Tony checked. Perhaps he had heard wrong?

“Yes, Friend Tony,” said Rolf, the other Einherjar nodding along grimly.

“…Right,” said Tony. “And was this fence, erm, important?”

“Yes,” Rolf frowned. “It belonged to the Lady Freyja, and she was most displeased. The Allfather himself had to convince her that returning to Vanaheim was unnecessary.”

“Okay.” Tony copied the Einherjar’s serious nodding. “So all he did was—“

“He broke it in the most extraordinary of ways, with a tornado of magic and a raging green inferno which destroyed the entire fence, leaving nothing but burnt cinders and smoke in its wake. It was most distasteful, to invade another’s property and damage it in that manner,” Rolf expanded, somehow saying those words with a completely straight face and not a hint of irony. _Asgardians._

“Well, I have to admit, that does sound like Loki,” Tony agreed. “But either way, you know I can’t let you just barge in here.” Tony held up a hand and wiggled his fingers threateningly, and a few Einherjar tripped over their friends as they tried to step backward, all of them having been on the wrong end of Tony’s repulsors at one time or another. “Do I need to ask JARVIS to send me a weapon?”

“That would be unwise. We are strong in number, and despite your skills as a warrior, you cannot take on all of us. ” Rolf gripped the hilt of his sword and pulled it slightly out of its sheath, almost elbowing the guy on his right in the nose as he did so. The solider only saved himself from a nosebleed by jerking back, which resulted in him head-butting the Einherji on _his_ right. This set off a chain reaction, Einherjar falling like dominoes as flailing limbs and knocked-back skulls sent them to the ground.

“Suddenly my chances of taking you all seem significantly higher,” Tony said, watching two-thirds of the soldiers writhe in a giant heap on the floor, those who were still standing forced to press against the walls or pile on the already overcrowded furniture to avoid stepping on their shield-brothers.

“Get up,” Rolf snapped. “We shall not be defeated by an enclosed space!”

Tony _did_ wonder why they didn’t try to get into the rest of the house, which was significantly larger– they hadn’t gone anywhere near the stairs, and were standing almost on their tiptoes to avoid stepping over the invisible line that separated the living room from the entryway. It was almost like—

Wait.

Oh, that little shit. Tony _knew_ Loki found the Einherjar’s attempts entertaining.

Surely, if it were possible to ensure that the Asgardians couldn’t get into the rest of the house it was possible to stop them from coming in entirely.

Tony was brought out of his musings by an ominous ripping sound, and he looked up in time to see an Einherji yank his battle axe from where it had become embedded in the war-weary couch.

“All right,” Tony shouted, raising his hand once again. “That’s _it_ , time for you to go! JARVIS, give me my—“

There was a noise reminiscent of a sock stuck in a vacuum cleaner and then the air was full of white mush, spewing from previously unseen vents in the ceiling and coating the Einherjar in what looked suspiciously like fire-extinguisher foam. The Einjerhar yelped and yelled and began to wave their weapons, but they were blinded and slipping on the ground and it would only be moments before the white would be running with red.

“HEIMDALL!” screamed Rolf, clearly coming to the same conclusion Tony had– then he spluttered indignantly as his mouth filled with foam.

“No!” Tony snapped. “If you blow a hole in my roof—“

There was a sudden shattering of glass as a few panicked Asgardians threw themselves at the promise of fresh air and clear skies free of white horrors, only to realise that there was nothing beyond the window but the ocean below the sheer cliff that the house was set on. Luckily, the sky outside lit up with the colours of the rainbow, picking up the falling soldiers before they could hit the water. The rest of the Einherjar followed like lemmings, throwing themselves through the window and into the deluge of the Bifröst. Rolf was the last to go, shooting a desolate glance back at Tony and the destroyed living room as he did so, quite clearly imagining how he was going to explain this most recent failed attempt of thwarting Loki to the Allfather.

“What the hell was that, JARVIS?” Tony asked, rubbing at his eyes in exhaustion.

“Our new defence system,” JARVIS answered. “Mr Liesmith determined that the most common point of entry into the house was the living room, so we have added a few fortifications.”

“You and Loki,” Tony repeated slowly, “have been fortifying the house?”

“As I said, Sir,” JARVIS confirmed. “The others have given their assistance as well, of course.”

“The others?” Tony asked, alarmed.

“The construction crew completed the installation the last time they were here,” JARVIS explained, and Tony _nearly_ had the time to sigh in relief before JARVIS added– “Dummy suggested the fire extinguisher foam, Sir. He has noted how people tend to retreat when he wields it.”

“JARVIS, new rule,” Tony groaned, eyeing the damp couch speculatively but deciding that the comfort of the seat wasn’t going to be worth getting covered in the foam. “No more alterations to the house without permission.”

“Mr Liesmith authorised it,” JARVIS said.

“He forged my signature, you mean,” Tony said. “And besides, he doesn’t have all the authority in this house. It’s still _mine_.”

“You gave him the same clearance level as you,” JARVIS argued.

“No, _you_ gave it to him.”

“And you have neglected to change it. Sir.”

Tony pointed a finger at the nearest camera. “You _know_ that’s not the same thing, J. I have had enough of this attitude.”

When Loki arrived home about a half hour later, his armour still smouldering a little and smelling faintly of burnt orange peel, he was met with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

“Is there something that you want to tell me?” Tony asked, his tone expectant.

Loki frowned thoughtfully a moment, clearly thinking hard on his answer– but even so, it came out as more of a question. “No?”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Loki was firmer this time, even adding a nod.

“Okay, so you had absolutely nothing to do with my living room currently looking like something north of the wall in Game of Thrones?”

Loki immediately began to grin. “Dummy’s idea worked, then?”

“We also need to have a chat about you using my bots’ innocent quirks for evil,” Tony said.

“Not _evil_ ,” Loki replied.

“Right, right,” Tony said, unable to help the laugh. “ _Mischief.”_

“Exactly. Now tell me.” Loki leaned in. “What did Odin’s minions do?” He asked amusedly. “Did they squeal?”

“It was most entertaining,” JARVIS cut in, and Loki’s grin widened further.

“They did, then?”

“In a most high-pitched manner, Mr Liesmith. I understand that some of them believed themselves blinded.”

“They nearly killed each other,” Tony deadpanned, and Loki beamed with pride.

“They will think twice before returning,” he said.

“Yeah, about that– how can they even get in?” Tony asked. “So I get that you’ve penned them into the living room—“

“If I stop them from entering, they will simply force their way in,” Loki interrupted. “JARVIS assured me that you would rather they are limited to the one room than that they attempt to break down the door and cause a scene.”

Tony considered that for a moment. “Fair enough,” he allowed. “But that wasn’t exactly what I meant, I just– the Bifröst would take out the roof. I know that, I saw what happened to the Triskelion that one time Fury decided to exercise some power and tried to order Thor down to Earth at a moment’s notice—“

“Thor does have something of a sense of humour,” Loki said, smirking.

“—but how come that doesn’t happen when they get in here?”

“Odin sends them with magic, similar to the manner in which I travel. Though while I am able to traverse the branches of Yggdrasil - the skill that gained me the title of Skywalker - Odin merely catapults the Einherjar through a path he creates himself.”

“That’s how _you_ get rid of them,” Tony realised.

Loki inclined his head. “Yes. They are unable to use the method themselves, and hence they must use the Bifröst to leave.”

“That makes sense,” Tony nodded. “But they have been here more often than usual, lately. You’ve been busy.”

“I’ve been… making an effort to acquire something,” Loki said.

“So you’ve been stealing,” Tony summarised.

“Reconnaissance,” Loki corrected. “And distraction. I would not be so brash as to act without a fleshed out plan.”

“But you’re planning on stealing something.” Tony rubbed his hands over his face. “Would you tell me what? Or, at the very least, _why?_ ”

Loki shook his head, and Tony was grateful, at least, that he didn’t try to come up with excuses.

“All right,” Tony sighed, too fucking exhausted with the whole thing to push. But– “Lokes, you know that I don’t want to make you feel like I disapprove, but if this means that Odin is going to come down here to try and bust your ass—“

“I have not broken my deal with the Allfather,” Loki said, his brow furrowing, and Tony felt a small stab of guilt for being the reason Loki’s bright smile had faded. “I have not broken any Midgardian laws. There is nothing in your constitution or international treaties that—“

“Loki,” Tony sighed, “Yeah, we don’t have anything specific like ‘thou shalt not spike politicians’ drinks with transformative potions’ or ‘thou shalt not animate national icons’, but I promise that the definition of assault is pretty far reaching and we _do_ have such a thing as a law against ‘disturbing the peace’.”

“That is frustratingly vague.” Loki wrinkled his nose. “And boring.”

“Yes,” Tony agreed. “But it does mean that if you want to keep your agreement, you’re going to have to—”

“Work a bit harder,” Loki said, nodding seriously. “I know. I shall just have to be more creative.”

Tony knew he was fighting a losing battle. Loki was always going to be taunting Asgard, and therefore they would always be forced to deal with the Einherjar. At least this way, no one was getting hurt.

But Loki’s taunting had never been the problem, anyway. It wasn’t the stunts that were the issue, it was the fact that they seemed to be drawing Loki away. Recently, Loki had been absent more and more, spending more time _annoying Asgard_ than he had with Tony. And while somewhat expected, it was… disheartening.

“Just tell me this,” Tony sighed. “Is this going to result in my living room being destroyed again?”

“Possibly,” Loki said, drawing out the syllables.

“I think you’re lying to me,” Tony said. “I think that’s less of a possibly and more of a ‘almost certainly.’”

Loki’s grin flickered back into existence as he leaned back in, his tongue darting out to wet his lips, his gaze catching on Tony’s.

“Do you think I might have a chance of distracting you from that?” Loki asked, his voice deepening dangerously.

“You’ve been corrupting Dummy,” Tony said, trying to keep his voice even– but his traitorous body tilted toward Loki, and he almost unconsciously reached out to place his arms around Loki’s waist.

“Have I?” Loki asked, a hand curling possessively around Tony’s hip while the other reached up to cup his neck. “I have only acted in _your_ best interest, my dear.”

“You’re a menace,” Tony pointed out.

Loki’s only response was to lean down and drag his teeth across the soft curve of Tony’s throat, alternating between hard bites and gentle kisses and drawing a moan from Tony’s lips.

“You,” Tony swallowed hard, “uh, we should—“

“Hmm,” Loki smirked against Tony’s skin. “Yes, there is definitely something we should be doing.”

That was the moment that Tony just thought _fuck it,_ and notions of further discussion evaporated as Tony caught Loki’s lips with his own, tasting smoke and oranges on the tip of his tongue. He hadn’t seen Loki in _days_ , and to hell with talking. Instead of looking for answers he plied Loki’s lips in a bid for reconnection, finding it in sharp breaths and biting teeth, in the touch of fingers on his skin and deep keens of pleasure.

“You do know that I love you, right?” Tony asked, moving back only enough so that his words were audible.

“Yes,” Loki replied, pulling Tony closer to continue the kiss. “I know.”

What did it matter that Loki had been off doing outer-space things? All Tony cared about in that moment was that Loki was in his arms in the here and now, and he was never planning on letting go.

—•—

Tony woke slowly the next day, a smile playing at the corner of his lips. He hadn’t realised how much he had missed the lazy mornings he’d enjoyed with Loki before his obsession with annoying Asgard had grown out of proportion. It was _nice_ , it was comforting to slide his hand across the bed, to reach past the rumpled sheets to–

Tony’s eyes snapped open as he stared at the empty space beside him, his fingers curling in the cold sheets. Loki ran a few degrees cooler than a human, but even so it was clear that he hadn’t been in the bed for a long while.

Slumping against his pillows, Tony closed his eyes again, trying to force back the ache in his chest.

Loki was gone, again. That was… that was _fine_. Loki was free to come and go as he pleased, Tony had made that very clear in the beginning, and he in no way wanted to cage Loki in, to limit his freedom in a way that so many others had tried.

But Tony had hoped that maybe he was enough to convince Loki to stay. In the beginning, when Loki’s visits had slowly grown more frequent until ‘visiting’ was something he did when he _left_ the mansion, Tony had revelled in the fact that _he_ was the reason why Loki kept coming back. Now, though, with Loki gone more often than not, it was hard remember how those early days had felt. Sometimes, his mind listened to those dark whispers that lurked in shadowed memory of betrayal, and he wondered if maybe he was the reason why Loki spent so much time away. Maybe he had pushed too far, maybe he had talked too much about rules and laws and complained too often about the way Loki saw fit to deal with the Einherjar. Tony had never been blind, he had walked into this mess with his eyes wide open. He knew who Loki was, and he loved him for it– he loved Loki’s curiosity, his wit, his ability to solve even the most difficult of puzzles and make it seem easy. And yes, he loved the way that Loki’s attention was only ever held for as long as he was interested, and he loved how Loki could bounce from one project to the next as quickly as Tony could come up with new ideas. He understood Loki’s need for fluidity, he _got_ that. But he couldn’t help but worry…

_We’re not going to fall apart because we find each other entertaining._

That day in Asgard kept playing on repeat in his mind and he grasped onto the thought tightly. He forced himself to remember what Loki had said, how Loki had responded.

 _We work because we challenge each other_.

But… what if Tony was no longer challenging enough? What if his mortal mind was no longer enough to hold Loki’s attention, what if Loki had been forced to find entertainment elsewhere? Irritating the Einherjar, after all, was something that Loki had lauded as _fun_ time and time again. Odin had said it, using nothing more than a fancy word for _flighty_ , taunting Tony with the thought that Loki would leave him as soon as he grew bored.

It was a harrowing thought, and Tony pushed it away. Loki loved him, Loki had said so. And yes, Loki was fucking erratic, but Tony loved him back through all of it. _Because_ of all of it. It might be frustrating and painful and sometimes goddamn lonely, but Tony would deal with it– was happy to go through it all, because it was all worth it in the end.

Wasn’t it?

Tony could muddle it through enough to know that Loki wasn’t _flighty_ – at least, not in the way that Tony’s mind whispered darkly at his lowest moments. Tony knew that if he had started to bore the god, Loki would have said so. Surely.

 _You’re not something that I can walk away from._   

Loki had meant that, Tony was sure of it, more sure than he had been in almost anything else in his life. It might be stupid and cliché and it might be disgustingly romantic, but Tony just _knew_ that Loki wouldn’t leave him high and dry like that.

Loki was just…

—•—

“ _Capricious_.” Tony spat the word out like it was something dirty, the _r_ rolling and the _s_ little more than a hiss.

Pepper rested her chin in her hands, her elbows leaning on her knees, a crease furrowing her brow. She had always been a good listener, and Tony had always shamelessly taken advantage of it. It was a week since he had woken alone, a week since he had last seen Loki, and he was shameless enough that he could admit to a need to vent.

“That’s what Odin said,” Tony continued, glaring down into the mug of hot chocolate Pepper had thrust at him before pushing him onto the couch and ordering him to spill all. “I told Odin that he was wrong, I said that Loki loves me and I wouldn’t let Odin belittle what we had.” A single bark of dark, broken laughter tore from Tony’s chest, halfway between hysterics and a sob. “I bet Odin’s up there laughing at me.”

“Oh, Tony,” Pepper sighed.

“ _We’ll prove him wrong_ ,” Tony quoted bitterly, putting the untouched mug on the coffee table. “Yeah. Right.”

“Tony, do you still love him?” Pepper asked, her voice low and soft and gentle, but giving no inclination that she worried Tony was about to crack in two. She was a calming presence, and Tony was thankful for it.

“Of course I do,” he replied. “I don’t– Pep, I don’t think that’s ever going to change.”

Pepper smiled minutely, and reached out to take one of his hands from where his fingers were twisting together almost painfully. She held it between both of her own, warm and steady and comforting, but she remained silent. She was waiting for something, and Tony let out a deep sigh as he realised what it was. Pepper didn’t want to direct what he had to say– she wanted him to put words to what he was feeling. It was something she had asked of him before, something he always found incredibly difficult to give, because even though he trusted Pepper with his life, with _everything_ – bearing his soul was never going to be something he could do lightly.

When Pepper had shown up at his door that evening, Tony had been surprised. He had talked to her over the phone frequently in recent days, had even seen her the day before at a board meeting. It was odd that she would just turn up out of the blue, even if she had sounded worried on their call that afternoon. In fact, she generally went out of her way to avoid him, and usually, Pepper would only brave going to the mansion if she had urgent papers for Tony to sign, things that could only pass hands between them. This time, though, she had come because she was _concerned_. She had seen how down Tony had been feeling lately, had seen how many events he had arrived at alone and with a horribly fake smile plastered across his lips instead of the real one he had been sporting since Loki had brightened up his life. Then, when she had phoned that afternoon about the new StarkPad design, she had heard something in his voice that made her worry. Tony had been adamant, when she had first shown up, that there was nothing wrong, but Pepper had a way of just breaking down his barriers and causing everything to flow free. Even when Tony most wanted to hold everything close.

“I think that just makes things worse,” he said, shifting slightly on the couch so he could rest his head against her shoulder. “Because if I didn’t, maybe I could deal with this a little better. Maybe if I thought that the way I feel about him was going to fade, then maybe I could face this with a bit more dignity.” Tony’s eyes fell closed. “He’s going to live a long time, Pep, a _long_ time, and I’m just…”

“Don’t you dare,” Pepper snapped, pushing Tony away and gripping his shoulders so they were eye to eye. “You may be a lot of things, Tony Stark, but don’t you _dare_ start to think that you are not good enough.”

“It’s the truth, though,” Tony pointed out. “He said it didn’t make him love me any less, and I _do_ believe that, but he’s got to know that it’s all just going to end in a great big mess.”

Pepper’s lips pressed together, and Tony sighed at the sight. She had never been one to give out false platitudes, and he knew the expression meant that she couldn’t think of anything _truthfully_ comforting to say.

“What brought this on?” She asked instead. “You really haven’t been yourself lately.”

“It’s not that he’s gone all the time,” Tony said, though his heart gave a slight twinge at the words. “I’m not that clingy, I’m not going to try and force him to be here. I miss him, but I do know that he’s going to come back.” Though lately, traitorous thoughts had been niggling at his nightmares, betraying the re-emergence of old insecurities. He’d never had this problem with Loki before, he’d always trusted the bond between them implicitly. But this was something else entirely– never before had Loki’s absence felt so cold. With that thought in mind, he forced the words out from between gritted teeth, keeping his eyes on Pepper’s understanding gaze. “It’s not _just_ the days without him. It’s that he doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what he’s doing.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case,” Pepper said firmly, and Tony shook his head.

“Then why? Why does he just up and leave without even—“

“I am sure he has his reasons,” Pepper cut in. “You know that I do not trust him, but I trust you, and I have seen the way you watch him. I’ve seen the way he acts when you are in danger, and I have heard both your and Thor’s account of what happened in Asgard. He loves you, I am sure of it. You just need to sit him down and _talk_ to him.”

“That’s going to be difficult, considering he’s hardly ever here,” Tony muttered.

“Sir, I would like you to know that I do not believe Mr Liesmith is doing anything that may bring you harm.”

“I _know_ that,” Tony said, but JARVIS wasn’t done.

“He has refused to answer me when I inquire as to his actions, and he will not listen when I try to tell him that he is causing you distress. But I assure you, Sir– while I would consider Mr Liesmith to be a friend, if he continues on his current path I shall not hesitate to act in your defence, and I know that Dummy, Butterfingers, and U feel the same way.”

“I thought you’d be on Loki’s side,” Tony said, his eyes a little watery. It was touching to know that JARVIS and the others would be willing to shower Loki in fire extinguisher foam to defend his honour.

“With all due respect, Sir, in recent weeks, Mr Liesmith has been uncharacteristically obtuse,” JARVIS replied.

“He most certainly has,” Pepper agreed. “And if he still doesn’t see what he’s doing to you, or if he does but he keeps doing it regardless?” She smiled brightly, all teeth and deadly cheer. “Well, I may not be a god, but I _am_ the CEO of a Fortune 500 that used to be the world’s leading weapons developer. I’m sure I’ll think of some way to make him regret his actions.”

“Do not forget, Miss Potts,” JARVIS added, “You also have the Black Widow on speed-dial.”

“Oh, of course.” Pepper brightened. “Yes, thank you JARVIS, I am sure she would be perfectly willing to be of assistance.”

Tony grinned in spite of himself. It was heartening to know that no matter what happened next, he could always rely on his friends to keep him grounded.

—•—

It was another week before Loki reappeared, his arrival announced by nothing more than a flash of green reflected in the metal surfaces of Tony’s workshop. Tony had seen nothing of the Einherjar nor received any word of Loki’s whereabouts in all that time. They had texted, at first, but Loki’s replies had been short and succinct, pretty words and empty platitudes, simple ‘ _I miss you_ ’s which didn’t mean anything since Loki never replied with a timeframe for his return. Tony’s bitterness had petered out, aided by Pepper’s words and JARVIS’ reassurances until all he was left with was an ache and a wish for things to be as easy as they once had been.

“Pepper says we need to talk,” Tony said in greeting, his hands stilling but his eyes remaining solidly on the metal and wires in front of him, the beginnings of an upgrade to his armour.

The quiet footsteps that had been padding across the concrete floor paused.

“About what?” Loki asked, his voice cautious, immediately picking up on the wary tenor of Tony’s words.

Tony sighed, and when cool hands curled around his shoulders he dropped his tools and leaned back, unwilling to give up any hint of affection while it was being offered.

“You’ve been gone quite a while,” Tony said, fighting to keep his voice level and flippant.

“I had business to attend to,” Loki said, his words still tense. “I was busy in another Realm.”

“Busy.” Tony turned the word over on his tongue, and then shook his head. “Yeah. I get that.”

Tony felt Loki’s flinch. “What do you mean?”

“Nothing,” Tony shrugged. “Just… I get that you have more important things to be doing than hanging around here, but– I’ve missed you, I guess.”

“What?” Loki asked, and his confusion had Tony immediately curious and dangerously hopeful. “Anthony, what are you—“

“I would advise you to watch your words,” JARVIS interrupted from above, and Tony felt Loki shift in surprise. JARVIS had always been impertinent, but he usually allowed them privacy during their more intimate discussions.

“Are you upset with me?”

Tony wasn’t sure of to whom the question was directed, but when a few seconds passed without an answer from JARVIS it became clear.

“No,” Tony sighed. He finally swivelled in the chair, dislodging Loki’s hands but turning to face the god square on. “I’m not upset with you. Don’t listen to JARVIS. I would never think to try and keep you here, but—“

“This is because of my absence,” Loki said, frowning. “You _are_ upset.”

“No, I’m not, though I think that if I were I would have every right,” Tony said. “You’ve been gone for days, Loki, without letting me know where or _why_. You didn’t even say goodbye to me, you just left—“

“I didn’t realise I would be gone as long as I was,” Loki replied, reaching out to touch Tony’s cheek, the tips of his fingers brushing the edge of Tony’s goatee. “I meant to be back sooner, but circumstances out of my control demanded that I continue longer than I desired."

“I’m not upset,” Tony repeated. “I’m just… tired.”

Loki’s eyes widened, and his hands shifted to once again grip Tony’s shoulders. “Anthony—“

“Not of you,” Tony was quick to clarify. “I could never– that’s not something that’s going to happen. But I am tired of the lying."

“I don’t lie to you,” Loki said immediately, desperately. "Not when it matters."

“But you don’t tell me the truth, either,” Tony pointed out. “And that’s… well, it’s not okay, I don't like it– but I can live with it. But I can’t live with you disappearing all the time, Loki, not when I don’t know where you are.” Tony averted his gaze, feeling slightly petulant– but he knew that it needed to be said. “Not when I don’t know if you’re coming back.”

“I will,” Loki replied. “Anthony, you know that. I _always_ will.”

“Yeah,” Tony said, though there was something in his voice that made Loki flinch.

“I’ll make this up to you,” Loki said firmly. “You’ll see.”

“The only way you could do that,” Tony said, “Would be to let me help you.”

“I can’t.” It was Loki’s turn to glance away. “This is… I can’t stop, not now. You’ll see.”

“It’s not that need you to stop, it’s just that I don’t know what you’re up to,” Tony said, his tone softening, “or why you think you need to hide it from me. But regardless, I just need you to know that whatever it is—“

“It’s nothing,” Loki cut in. “It’s not something that I want you to have to worry about.”

“ _Whatever_ it is,” Tony continued, frowning slightly at the echo in Loki's words. “Whether you are stealing, or whether you’re just out partying– I’m here for you, okay? Even if you don’t want to tell me everything, if you just need a soundboard, or if you need someone to lean on, or if you need me to follow you and fight by your side - whatever you need, I’m here.”

When Loki smiled, it was a little bit watery, a little bit broken. His eyes turned down, and his hands were fists by his sides. Tony couldn’t watch him like that and just do nothing. He stood from his chair and took Loki into his arms, pulling his head down to rest on Tony’s shoulder. It seemed somewhat backward, that after the weeks Tony'd had it was he who was doing the consoling– but he needed this, just as much as he had needed Loki's earlier reassurance. He needed to know that Loki still found comfort in his presence.

“Thank you,” Loki whispered, his arms tightening around Tony to the point that it was almost painful. “I know that you’re here for me. But I… this is something that I need to do alone.”

Tony shook his head, his nose skimming Loki’s dark hair. “You don’t have to, Loki, that’s the point.”

Loki exhaled shakily, his breath sending a shiver over Tony’s skin. “I’ll promise to keep that in mind,” he said.

“All right, sweetheart,” Tony sighed, pressing a kiss to the top of Loki’s head. “All right.”

—•—

Tony could recognise the humiliating tragedy in the fact that he was resorting to asking an _Einherji_ for company, but Loki was gone again, Pepper was busy, Rhodey was on mission somewhere and the Avengers were training new recruits on the other side of the country, something Tony had absolutely no interest in. And he supposed that he and Rolf had sort of become friends. By this point they had seen each other more often in the past month than Tony had seen anyone but Loki, and even that was… well. Tony forcibly stopped his mind from going there. Rolf had appeared alone for once, his expression somewhat sheepish. He had explained that most of his forces were chasing Loki around Alfheim, but that he had headed to Loki’s home on Midgard as a precautionary measure. Tony had merely sighed and offered the guy a drink.

“Sorry about the thing with the fire extinguisher foam, by the way,” Tony said, moving across the room to grab the decanter of whiskey from the brand new sideboard.

“There’s nothing for you to apologise for, Friend Tony,” Rolf replied, sitting in the armchair Tony had pointed him to. “You were defending your home. I understand, and would have done nothing less.”

Tony sighed, handed the Einherji his tumbler, and sat on the couch, angling himself toward his erstwhile friend.

“Look, Rolf,” said Tony–

“I have told you, my name is Hródolf,” Rolf stressed.

“Yeah, but I’m going to keep calling you Rolf, I mean, you call me _Tony_ ,” Tony replied. “Anyway—“

“But Tony is your name, you introduced yourself as such,” Rolf said.

“Okay, buddy, if we’re stuck on the name thing then we aren’t going to get anywhere in this conversation,” Tony snapped, and Rolf looked a little taken aback. “All right. _So._ You said Loki was in Alfheim, right? So why the hell do you guys care enough to track him down?”

Rolf pressed his lips together. “I am not sure that I should divulge—“

“Oh, come on,” Tony groaned, throwing back his drink and reaching for a refill. “Who am I going to tell? I’m on Midgard.”

“That is true,” Rolf allowed, and Tony grinned, glad that Asgardian elitism was so easy to exploit.

“Besides,” Tony added. “Surely I’m like Loki’s closest kin at this point. Surely that means I get some privileges.”

Tony realised his mistake a moment too late, and cursed as Rolf’s expression closed off.

“Prince Loki is an Odinson,” Rolf said firmly.

“Yeah,” Tony lied, “But you know he lives here, with me. You know how close I am to him. Come on, Rolf,” he pressed, “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

“You have threatened my life,” the Einherji pointed out. “On several occasions.”

“Only because you tried to take away someone I care about,” Tony argued.

“I fail to understand you,” Rolf said, his head tilting as his blue eyes studied Tony carefully. “You are intelligent, for a mortal—“

“Gee thanks,” Tony muttered, rolling his eyes.

“—and you are inherently _good_ , one of Midgard’s mightiest heroes. And yet, you protect one such as Prince Loki.” Rolf frowned. “It is boggling.”

Tony found himself mirroring the frown, though his was far harder than the soldier’s. “I’m sorry,” he said, “I’m afraid that now _I_ do not understand. Why is it strange that I might help Loki?”

“Well, he is just not the sort of person I would expect one such as yourself to engage with,” Rolf continued. “Although you are a mortal, you know that I hold you in regard. You are a fierce warrior, you have a keen mind, and you are of good character. But Prince Loki…” He trailed off, his gaze cautious as he studied Tony’s expression. “Perhaps you just do not know.”

“Do not know _what?_ ” Tony asked, tensing. He was worried– did Rolf know that Loki was a Jötunn? Loki seemed to think that Odin had held that close to the chest, that even now the rest of Asgard remained unaware. If they had found out– well, it wouldn’t matter overly much to Tony and he knew that Loki had no current plans to return to Asgard, but it would _pain_ him to know that his secret had been revealed before he was ready to reveal it himself. If he were ever to be ready.

“About who Prince Loki is,” Rolf answered. “You know, of course, of his recent downfall, of the darkness that always lurked in his mind. But that is not all. There were rumours, you see, from when he was younger. Rumours of a distasteful sort. I know that Prince Loki is your friend,” Rolf continued, his tone low and reassuring. “But he is _ergi_.”

Tony frowned, and Rolf seemed to take his confused reaction as one of distaste.

“It is true that the Allfather allowed Loki his… dalliances,” Rolf said. “And that Prince Thor always defended his brother’s preference. But the rumours are well known to be true, and on top of his magic and his fighting style… Well. Loki always had been strange.”

And despite the fact that Tony was quite certain he had never before heard the word ‘ergi’ in his life, it didn’t take the full use of his faculties to work out what it meant.

“Let me get this straightened out,” Tony said, his voice just on the edge of becoming a growl. “You think that I’m too good for Loki because he likes sleeping with other men?”

“That is a crude way of wording it,” Rolf frowned. “It isn’t his... preferences alone, it is more what they represent. On Asgard, a warrior must present themselves in a certain manner.”

“Oh, I’ve heard this one,” Tony said, his tone hard. “Magic, seiðr, whatever. You guys see Loki’s little _tricks_ as dishonourable, don’t you?”

 “A warrior should fight with honour,” Rolf agreed, condescension dripping from his words. "Seiðr is just as much a woman's weapon as poison. It came as no surprise when the rumours that Prince Loki was ergi began to circulate."

“Oh buddy,” Tony laughed darkly. “You have _so_ decided to talk with the wrong guy.”

“I know you care for him,” Rolf backtracked, “I know he is your friend—“

“My friend?” Tony asked, raising his brows incredulously. “I think you’ll find that Loki and I are a slight closer than that.”

In another situation, the rapidness with which Rolf paled might have been hilarious.

“You and he are—“

“Partners?” Tony asked with a wolfish smile, leaning forward. “ _Lovers?_ ”

Rolf swallowed hard. “Perhaps it is best that I leave,” he said, clearly uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken.

“Oh, I don’t think so,” Tony said. “I thought we were _friends,_ Rolf. I thought we had something going, here.”

“My name,” the Einherjar said with gritted teeth, “Is Hródolf. And I see now that I was mistaken– you are not the person I thought you were.”

“Not too keen on having a Midgardian buddy anymore?” Tony asked. “Oh, but you’d love it in this Realm. We have so much more _freedom_ than you do up there. We’re free to be with who we wish, free to _be_ who we _are_ – it’s no wonder Loki left! The true wonder is how anyone stays in Asgard at all!”

“How dare you,” Rolf snarled, jumping to his feet. His hand fell to the hilt of his sword, and he bared his teeth. “I will _not_ allow you to slander Asgard in this way!”

“JARVIS?” Tony snapped. “I’m sure there’s some kind of defence you should be employing right now.”

“It will be my pleasure, Sir.” The AI’s voice was as cold as the blast that erupted from a hidden port in the roof, drowning Rolf in a burst of arctic assault. It was somewhere between snow and hail, a torrent of cutting ice and soft slush that left Rolf with the ability to remain upright but frozen to the core. It was such a perfect balance that there was no way that magic somehow wasn’t involved. Rolf’s armour was immediately coated with frost and his face turned a bright red, the nerves freezing in the glacial onslaught.

“Stop this,” Rolf growled, his sword pulled from its sheath, but Tony had a gauntlet in place by now and fired, and the sword was send clattering to the other side of the room.

“You’ve lost your weapon, Rolf,” Tony taunted. “What’s your next move?”

“This is dishonourable,” the Einherjar spat. “Fight me like the warrior you claim to be.”

“I fight to _win._ ” Tony smiled beautifically. “I bet you wish you had a few _tricks_ up your sleeve, now.”

Rolf snarled again and moved forward but JARVIS didn’t let up, shifting the direction of the torrent to match Rolf's new location, and Rolf’s movements had become slow as his joints stiffened with cold.

“I’ll give you one last chance,” Tony said, holding his gauntlet in line with Rolf’s face. “You’re going to leave, now. And if you say anything about Loki’s _preferences_ ever again, I _will_ kill you.”

Rolf’s eyes widened, and reddened as they were from the ice he looked almost maniacal. “Heimdall, bring me home!” Rolf shouted, almost more desperate than he had been the last time he’d been treated to JARVIS’ particular brand of hospitality.

There was a moment where nothing happened, as if Heimdall’s reflexes were not on point– or, Tony thought vindictively, as if he agreed that Rolf’s circumstance was deserved. But the moment passed, and bright colours tore through the roof and ripped Rolf away from Tony’s living room, leaving no rubble or dust– only a gaping hole in the ceiling and the burnt fingerprint on the many-times replaced flooring.

Tony hardly even flinched.

“This one wasn’t Dummy, was it?” he asked.

“No,” JARVIS replied. “That one was entirely Mr Liesmith’s concoction. Aesir have a long standing fear of ice, I believe.”

“Good,” Tony spat. “The bastard deserves it. Next time, JARVIS, don’t bother with the pleasantries. If Rolf comes back, blast him where he stands. You’ve got my _full_ permission.”

“So when the construction crew come to repair the roof…” JARVIS trailed off.

“Whatever you want,” Tony confirmed. “Go wild. Just try to keep it non-lethal, okay?”

When JARVIS agreed, he sounded positively gleeful _._

—•—

When Loki arrived the next day, he spared the mess of the half fixed living room and the Asgardian sword on the coffee table only a cursory glance before heading straight for where Tony rested against the kitchen counter, focusing on the coffee machine.

“What happened?” Loki asked worriedly.

“Apparently the head of the Einherjar was sick of chasing you around and decided to lay in wait,” Tony said, not turning around as his coffee was nearly done. “You missed quite the show. Thanks to your genius, of course.”

“The ice?” Loki asked.

“Yeah.” Tony filled his mug when the pot was finally done, and turned to face Loki. “Worked like a— holy _shit_ , never mind that, what the hell happened to _you_?”

Loki looked like he had come out of the wrong side of a fight. His leather clothes were singed to the point of smoking, and there was a smattering of blood on his left side.

“It’s not mine,” Loki assured him, but Tony frowned, and touched his fingers to the bruise on Loki’s temple. It was already fading, but it still looked painful.

“What happened?” Tony asked again.

“I’m fine,” Loki said firmly. “I’m already healing, I just need—“

“Please, Loki,” Tony pleaded. “Don’t.”

Loki sighed, and leaned his head into Tony’s touch.

“Loki…” Tony whispered. “Why are you doing this?”

“You said that you would be willing…” Loki trailed off, his green eyes catching Tony’s gaze. “That if I– that I only had to ask.” He was clearly reluctant, but Tony leaned in expectantly, recognising the progress.

“Whatever you need,” Tony said softly.

“I am sorry,” Loki said. “I thought I could do this alone, that I didn’t need to involve you.”

“I told you that I’m willing to help,” Tony reminded him, eager to finally know what was going on but recognising the hesitation in Loki’s tone as something to be wary of. His reluctance was deepening into something stronger, and Tony feared that if he pushed too hard, Loki would back away again. 

“I didn’t want to ask this of you,” Loki continued. “I know you didn’t want to return to that place, and I didn’t want you to have to.”

“What place?” Tony asked, suspicion curling in his gut. “What have you been trying to steal?”

“There is something that I need,” Loki said. “Something important.”

Tony felt a sudden shiver of dread. “Loki, I’m sorry, but if this is about the Tesseract—“

“It’s not,” Loki denied. “I promise. This is about something of higher importance than an Infinity Stone. You _know_ that I despise those things.”

“But I also know you’d take one if you thought you needed it,” Tony replied.

Loki tilted his head in acquiescence of that fact. “It is not, though. I swear.”

“I believe you,” Tony said, and Loki nodded. “But, if this is more important than Infinity Stones… Is this a life and death thing?”

Loki tensed, and nodded once again.

“All right,” Tony said. “So why are you trying to do it yourself, if it’s that serious? Dammit, Loki, you come back here looking like you’ve had the shit beaten out of you– why won’t you let me help?”

“Because I need to go to Asgard,” Loki snapped.

And. Well. Okay, so a heap of things all of a sudden came into alignment.

“ _That’s_ why you didn’t want to tell me?” Tony asked, astounded.

Loki nodded once, his lips pressing together.

“Because you thought I wouldn’t want to go to Asgard?” Tony’s words were fond, now, the annoyance drifting away. Loki hadn’t hidden anything because he wanted to keep Tony in the dark, he had hidden it to protect him. And while that was damn annoying it was something that Tony was willing to accept. For now, anyway. They would be talking about it later.

“Do you?” Loki asked. “Would you want to return?”

“Well, no,” Tony admitted, “But that’s so far from the point right now—“

“You know I’m trying to steal something,” Loki cut in, and his stubborn tone was definitely an attempt to reassure himself than it was for Tony's sake. “Something important. It’s heavily guarded, and it’s– it’s in Asgard. And I’m going to get it _alone_.”

“Of course you are,” Tony said, the beginnings of a smile forming across his lips. “And I’m coming with you.”

The flash of confusion across Loki’s face proved that he didn’t quite understand the reference, but Tony knew that its meaning couldn’t be any clearer.

“We’ve talked about this before,” Tony reminded him. “All you ever need to do is _ask_.”

The was a poignant pause, and for a moment, Tony thought that maybe nothing would come of it. But—

“I need your help,” Loki admitted hesitantly, finally putting it into words.

“Okay,” Tony said simply, smiling properly for what felt like the first time in far too long. “What do you need me to do?”


	2. Plan B: Grand Larceny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _a.k.a. Loki needs to come up with ideas that are less life threatening (and preferably less violent)_

Ten minutes in and Tony had already decided that the only benefit to the entire plan was that Loki had transported them to Asgard using his usual teleportation-slash-sky-walking, which meant that they didn’t have to use the bloody Bifröst. Tony’d had _enough_ of that damn thing to last a lifetime, and as far as he was concerned, if he never had to use it again it would be too soon.

Sky walking, however, was hardly any better. Tony had been teleported by Loki before, of course, but never between realms, and the difference was… unsettling. Where teleportation seemed instantaneous, sky walking was an honest to god journey. Loki kept a tight hold on Tony’s hand the whole time as he pulled him through a tangle of colours and threads, leaping over yawning gaps in the fabric of reality and dashing across the metaphysical branches of the universe. It was captivating, and Tony didn’t think that anything could have prepared him for it. Not that, you know, Loki had even really tried.

“I do not know how Yggdrasil will appear to you,” Loki had warned him before they left. “It is different for everyone.”

And that was it. That was all the preparation he was allowed.

To make matters worse, Loki had never even done it with another person before. He had feared that Thor would become too distracted and fall into the void, and had never trusted anyone else enough to share the secrets of his ability. Tony was almost flattered that Loki thought him sensible enough to make the trip, but then almost wished that he hadn’t. The temptation was there, to let go of Loki’s hand and leap to another branch by himself, to freely explore everything the entirety of the Nine Realms had to offer. But Loki held him tightly and Tony powered forward, his feet skipping across the universe, literally running from Earth to Asgard.

Tony couldn’t say how they entered the place between worlds, but nor could he have described how they exited. They were just suddenly _there_ , one moment traversing Yggdrasil and then the next they were standing in an alleyway in Asgard, in the shadow of the palace. They were on the other side from the main entrance they had used the last time he had been in the Realm Eternal, at least so far as Tony could tell– but everything was still that shining gold, glimmering ever so slightly in the bright moonlight.

“Oh good,” said Loki. “It worked.”

“Was there ever any doubt of that?” Tony asked incredulously.

“Of course not.” Loki lifted his chin arrogantly. “I wouldn’t have risked you if there had been.”

Tony was quite sure that Loki had never done anything that didn’t involve risk in his life, but hey, it _had_ worked, so he was willing to let it go.

Loki led the way through the streets, darting between golden buildings and darkened alleyways, warning that his concealment spell was not foolproof when Odin probably expected him to be making a third - yes, a _third -_ attempt to steal whatever it was that he was after. Tony kept close behind, doing his best to make as little noise as possible, but not even coming close to matching Loki’s sleek movements.

Tony wasn’t quite wearing his full Iron Man suit, as Loki had stressed the need for stealth. But he had on a new streamlined design he had been working on, one that used the same concept as his glove-gauntlets. His chest, back, shins, shoulders, and forearms were encased in metal, but the rest of him was free to move easily. When required, the rest of the armour would unfold from what he was wearing. It was thinner and less durable than what he would usually wear into battle, but it meant that he was far more mobile without losing the fighting capability– _and_ , if need be, he would still be able to fly. Fly better, even, thanks to the drop in weight. Not to mention the fact that it looked close enough to something Asgardian that if someone did catch a glimpse of him, they would be unlikely to give him a second look.

“Are you going to actually tell me what we’re doing?” Tony asked quietly. “Properly, I mean. None of this ‘we’re going to Asgard so go and get your suit, Tony, you’re going to be making some noise, that’s all you need to know’ stuff.”

“You know enough already,” Loki replied. “Now, shush.”

“Oh, come on, if your magic slips and someone sees us, surely it’ll be less suspicious if we’re having a chat?”

Loki sighed exasperatedly, so Tony took that as agreement.

“All I know is that you’ve been burning down fences and leading the Einherjar on a merry chase around Alfheim,” Tony continued with a shrug. He’d never claimed to be incapable of being petty. “I _am_ a little in the dark here, as I’m sure you haven’t forgotten.”

Loki shot Tony a short glare. “You know exactly what you need to in order to fulfil your part of the plan.”

“You call this a plan?” Tony asked, recalling the few short instructions Loki had bequeathed him before they’d left Earth. “For the god who’s known for scheming, I think I should expect something a little more elaborate.”

“You’re the one always advocating for the ‘make it up as we go along’ approach.”

“I’m just worried,” Tony said. “I looked up the name Freyja since your last attack on her property. And I’m pretty sure that making the goddess of sex angry just has to be a terrible omen, or at the very least incur bad karma.”

“She cultivated that title herself,” Loki said, rolling his eyes. “She has no bearing on—“

“Seriously?” Tony asked. “How did she manage that? Wait, no, I think I can guess—“

“She sold the fruit she grows to the Midgardians with promises that they would increase beauty, vitality, and good fortune in exchange for gold,” Loki continued. “Hardly an original idea and personally, I believe it’s all an elaborate con, or at the very least just a bit of short term spell work. But I do applaud her efficiency. Word of her produce spread to other realms, and now she is one of the most successful businesspersons in Asgard.”

“The Vikings had stories about how her tears were made of gold,” Tony commented.

“It does not surprise me,” Loki shrugged. “She’s done very well for herself.”

“Still, angering Asgard’s top CEO seems almost _worse_ , somehow. If she’s anything like Pepper—“

“Do not worry,” Loki said flippantly. “We will receive no retribution from Freyja.”

“Why do I not believe that?” Tony groaned.

The story of Freyja being the richest woman in, well, basically all of existence seemed a whole lot more real when they came upon her ‘fence’. It was clear that it had once been incredibly grand; the thing stood at _least_ forty feet tall, completely sheer and smooth without a single possible handhold. Tony was sure it would have been all the more impressive, however, when the better part of it was not covered in scaffolding, and when the parts of the original wall that remained were not scorched black. It would seem that whoever was working on repairs had managed to save a good portion of it, or at least reuse old materials, but the newer sections were easily distinguished by their bright gold colour, and the expanse of what had already been fixed alongside the still gaping breach clearly demonstrated just how much a good job Loki had done at destroying it a few weeks before.

Nonetheless, it was an impressive obstacle– but the bloody _wall_ itself, however, was not the immediate problem.

“Will I never be free of these guys?” Tony groaned, spying the regiment of Einherjar who had taken up camp by the breach in the wall.

“Freyja probably convinced Odin to lend them to her free of charge,” Loki said. “I heard she was threatening to return to Vanaheim when her wall burnt down– why hire mercenaries when you can manipulate a king to give you soldiers?”

“You know, I heard that too,” Tony said. “And you know what else? That makes this your fault.”

“Yes, it does,” Loki agreed. “It has worked out just as I thought it would.”

“You are going to get yourself killed one day,” Tony told him.

“Maybe,” Loki said. “But not today. Now come on, we have a garden to raid.”

Before they had left for Asgard, Tony had been told on no uncertain terms that his role in the plan was to be a distraction. Yep, that was it. The Invincible Iron Man, relegated to distraction duty. Perhaps if Tony had known before, he would have suggested Loki take Hawkeye with him. Or maybe _Thor_. Thor was good at making loud noises.

Then again, Tony had an inkling that Thor probably wouldn’t approve of them breaking into the garden of Asgardian Kim Kardashian, but whatever.

If Loki wanted a distraction, Tony would just have to give him the best fucking distraction he had ever seen.

“You know what you’re doing?” Loki checked.

“They say you cannot simply _walk_ into Mordor,” Tony said with a shrug, deciding that since he’d started with the Tolkien references he might as well just keep running with them. “You know I’ve always been a fan of proving people wrong.”

Tony watched as Loki slunk into the darkness with a smirk, swallowed by the shadows and seeming to just vanish into thin air. And perhaps Tony would think that he had, except that Loki had been adamant that Freyja was a master at wielding magic (honestly, was this lady bad at _anything?_ ) and had protected her crop with more than just gold bricks and mortar. They wouldn’t be able to get in with magic– they’d have to do it the old fashioned way.

Smiling wide, Tony headed out into the open, his arms spread in a mockery of surrender. As it was the middle of the night, the majority of the Einherjar were stretched out on the ground, ensconced in ornate sleeping bags. There were four sentries, with two positioned on either side of the grouping, their weapons sheathed but eyes alert. One of the pair closest to where Tony approached from noticed him immediately, and lightly hit his partner on the shoulder.

“Who are you?” The one on the right asked.

“I guess neither of you guys are on the Loki Taskforce, then?” Tony asked, continuing to move closer and bringing his hands behind his back. “Shame. Those guys were beginning to grow on me. They’re just so much fun to knock down.”

“I would advise you continue walking,” the Einherji on the left said threateningly. “This area is the property of Lady Freyja, and she does not take kindly to trespassers.”

“Man, I totally agree with her, neither do I,” Tony said brightly. “I hate trespassers. So rude.”

The Einherjar exchanged glances, and Tony recognised the universal code for ‘what the hell is this guy on?’

“Move along,” one of the soldiers said, speaking slowly as if he worried for Tony’s intellect.

“Freyja certainly seems to know what she’s doing, though,” Tony said, ignoring the soldiers’ words and looking up to the half-repaired wall. “Looks like it could keep out a hoard of Wildlings as well as a good few would be thieves.”

The Einherji on the right grinned. “Oh, Lady Freyja has the third best security in Asgard,” he said. “And we have the honour of helping to improve it!”

“The _third_ best?” Tony asked curiously. “Now, that’s interesting.”

“Yes, behind only the Allfather’s vaults and the gardens of—“

“Silence!” The other Einherji hissed, giving his partner another solid whack.

“You know, that’s not very friendly,” Tony pointed out. “He was only answering my question.”

“You are fishing for information,” the soldier replied. “I certainly think that you are up to no good.”

Tony blinked. Had he just said what Tony thought he had?

The soldier moved forward, his less competent partner following along close behind.

“I am going to arrest you on suspicion of dangerous intent,” the Einherji on the left said, pulling a set of manacles from his belt.

Well, that just wouldn’t do. In one swift movement Tony raised both hands and fired, the gauntlets and repulsors seamlessly flowing into his palms and sending out a blast that had both soldiers flying backward.

“Mischief managed, I guess,” Tony said with a shrug and a satisfied smile. But it was far from over– just as Tony had thought it would, the noise had awoken the rest of the camp, and the ground was a mess of writhing sleeping bags as the Einherjar roused themselves. A bugle sounded from somewhere, clearly an alarm for those who hadn’t already been jerked awake by the blast. “Here we go,” Tony muttered, and the moment the rest of the armour enclosed his body, he leapt into the air and soared over the sleepy soldiers, doing a few barrel rolls and loops as he went.

After all, he was the _distraction_. If that didn’t mean that he could show off the new suit then what did?

He gave the Einherjar a few minutes to compose themselves, deciding that since he was attacking them at probably two in the morning they deserved a little leeway. (Although, honestly, eye for an eye and all that.) He flew above them and fired randomly around their flanks, hurrying them along but not actually hurting.

When the first arrow soared past in the middle of one of his ostentatious flips, he spun immediately to a stop and let loose one of the few small missiles he’d added to the streamlined armour, sending it straight into one of the not-quite-repaired sections of the wall. Chunks of gold that were not yet properly cemented into position went flying, and Tony could hear orders being shouted below.

“If this is the third best security Asgard has to offer, I honestly worry for the rest of it,” Tony taunted, projecting his voice with the suit’s speaker as he hovered in front of them all.

The Einherjar had managed to get themselves organised by that point and their archers had formed neat lines, the first rank crouched and prepared for a volley fire. Tony was prepared as well– he jetted higher, though he knew that he would have to consider the Asgardians’ enhanced strength when calculating an approximate range, and that it was unlikely he’d be able to get high enough without losing his own status as a threat. So he waited, and when the volley reached him he lashed out with his repulsors, using the resultant thrust to push himself back out of the arrows’ arch while simultaneously destroying a few of the projectiles. The second volley flew into the sky half a moment later and this time Tony ducked underneath them, rocketing straight at the line. The Asgardians had already nocked their next set of arrows but they hadn’t been expecting Tony to simply _charge._

“For Midgard!” Tony yelled, his grin still firmly in place.

“Is it wise to advertise your origin, Sir?” JARVIS asked, ever present inside the armour.

“Oh come on, as if they think I’m from anywhere else at this point,” Tony retorted. He knew Thor had spoken of him during accounts of his battles, and if nothing else these Einherjar had probably heard about him from their unfortunate buddies assigned to Loki hunting.

The soldiers in his path dove out of the way but those on the side seemed more disciplined than the Einherjar on the Loki Taskforce had been, and they held their ground. Tony skidded to a stop just beyond their front line, landing on his feet and catching a couple more with his repulsors before leaping back into the sky, narrowly avoiding the few who ran at him with axes and swords. The Einherjar archers were quick to recover, though, and Tony couldn’t avoid all of the arrows that were fired at him. He managed to angle himself so that most clattered harmlessly off his chest plate– and _god_ , but that had been nerve wracking, he hadn’t been entirely sure that the thin armour would hold up to whatever Asgardian arrows were made of - but one caught in his shoulder joint, warping a few of the wires and sending Tony off balance for a few moments.

He shot up again as soon as he had steadied himself but was hit by a few more arrows as he did so, almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. His skewed trajectory had him flying behind a nearby building, however, and it was pure luck rather than any skill on his part that allowed him to take a bit of cover.

Gripping the arrow with his hand, he yanked it out with perhaps a little more force than was necessary.

“Damage?” he asked.

“Not substantial,” JARVIS responded. “Repulsor still useable in that arm, but the shoulder joint will be stiff, limiting mobility.”

“Gotcha, try not to use the right arm,” Tony repeated. He briefly considered retracting the armour on his upper arm on that side, leaving only the brace on the forearm and the gauntlet– but with all the arrows in the air it was too risky. He couldn’t chance another volley like the last without full protection. “Update on Loki?”

“He hasn’t achieved his objective yet,” JARVIS replied. They hadn’t been able to use the Avengers’ communicators– they wouldn’t work in Asgard, and while Tony had asked if Loki could do the same thing to them that he had to their phones, Loki had claimed that the devices were unnecessary. Tony thought it was probably just Loki trying to hide things again, but he _was_ able to still get JARVIS to give updates via Loki’s phone.

“Back in we go, then,” Tony said. “Those idiots had better not be smug about that last hit.”

This time, Tony came at them from around the other side. The Einherjar didn't expect it but they reacted well– their archers spun around to aim at the new direction and the infantrymen in the new front lines hurled spears into the air. Tony veered off to the side, blasting the projectiles out of the air with both hands then looping around so that he was flying directly along their lines, his turns slightly wider than he would have liked due to the stiffness in his right shoulder.

“Flares!” Tony ordered, and the infantry yelled as they were showered with light and heat, throwing their hands over their eyes. The archers remained unaffected, however, and Tony was forced upward once more. “We need to do something about those bloody archers,” Tony snarled as another arrow hit home, this one lodging in his left knee. JARVIS reported that the damage was similar, but this time he could feel it grating against his skin, and he pulled it out as fast as he could.

“May I suggest a large bang?” JARVIS said.

“Oh, you most certainly may.” Tony scanned through the info on the HUD, not really needing the reminder of what he had armed the suit with, but using the imagery to help best calculate how to take down the massive wall.

Simply firing everything seemed like a good enough way to go.

“Keep the rest of the flares, and we won’t use the repulsors,” Tony told JARVIS. “But we’re not going to use these missiles on the soldiers.”

Tony swooped above where the archers were lined up near the wall, knowing he was going to have to take the sacrifice of presenting a target if he wanted to achieve his goal. The archers took the opportunity gladly and arrows pierced the air all around him, a few clattering against his back.

“No point waiting around, J, let’s do this!” Tony ordered.

Then the whistling of arrows was replaced with the metal scream of Tony’s compact missiles as they spread out and slammed into the wall, all at the exact same moment.

The resultant bang was perhaps a little bigger than expected.

The explosion didn’t just crack the wall, it _shattered_ it. Pieces of debris went flying in all directions and the Einjerhar that could leapt for cover, but most were thrown back by the shockwave. The sound of it was deafening, and the archers, closer to the blast than anyone, threw down their bows to cover their ears and eyes, screeching with the pain of it. Tony might have felt guilty at the sight but he too was caught up in the shockwave, careening through the air, flipping and spinning without control. It would be a difficult situation to pull out of in the best of circumstances, and these were decidedly not. Unable to properly make use of one arm and one leg he had no hope of regaining control, and Tony was sent smashing bodily through the remains of the wall and ploughing straight into the soft ground of Freyja’s garden.

The garden was… well, it was beautiful, full of tall trees ripe with all manner of fruits in a bright variety of colour. Tony had crashed amongst a heap of orange trees, and he could spy some peaches and strawberries over to the left, but he didn’t get the chance to look around at any more than that as he was interrupted by a yell from the wall he’d just crashed through.

“Get in there!” the officer was shouting at his underlings. “He cannot be allowed to steal any of Lady Freyja’s produce!”

“Oh, why not?” Tony shouted back, stumbling to his feet. “I’m getting on in years, you know, and if these oranges have a little kick that can give me a bit of even footing when dealing with a bloody god—”

“Oranges are thought to bring good fortune, Sir,” JARVIS interjected. “If it is increased vitality you are after, perhaps you should head toward the peaches.”

“Well, that’s even better,” Tony replied. “Given a choice between the two, I am definitely lacking more in fortune. I’ll happily steal a good luck orange.”

JARVIS didn’t respond to that, but Tony was sure that if he had physically been able to roll his eyes, he would have been doing so.

“You will be stealing nothing,” the Einherjar officer snapped. “Men, get to your feet!”

Tony could hear the clattering of weapons and rubble on the other side of the wall, and he readied himself to jump back up to the skies. But the repulsor in his left leg spluttered and died, and his right arm was now completely shot– the repulsor still workable, but the elbow joint wouldn’t budge more than a few inches, and the shoulder was almost entirely frozen. He wouldn’t be able to shoot at anything with that hand other than his own waist.

“Okay, so this isn’t great,” Tony muttered. But he still had the flares, he still had one working repulsor, he had his lasers, and he had the unibeam. He wasn’t entirely defenceless, and the Einherjar were disorientated from the blast.

He moved forward at a run, glad the streamlined armour was less clunky than what his usual model would have been able to manage. He reached the wall in moments, and paused when he saw the line of infantrymen assembling on the other side.

It seemed like the perfect moment for some dramatics.

Feeling rather like one of the legendary 300 Spartans, Tony positioned himself in the centre of the breach in the wall, his only working arm held out in front of him, repulsor at the ready.

“You shall not pass!” he declared, standing firm as the soldiers bristled.

“Sir, you may be overdoing it,” JARVIS said.

“There’s no such thing,” Tony said as he dove to the right, forced to take cover behind the wall as a few spears flew in his direction. “I am a _distraction_.”

“I think I should remind you, Sir, that there is no one here from Earth to appreciate your constant references.” JARVIS sounded almost irritated, and Tony chuckled.

“That’s the point, J. There’s no one here to call me out on it.” There was a pause, and then Tony groaned. “JARVIS, if you’re recording– if Clint gets hold of any of this, I swear that I really _will_ break you down to your base code and donate you to a community college.”

“No you won’t,” JARVIS said immediately.

“No, I won’t,” Tony sighed. “Loki would probably kill me if I tried. We all remember what happened to the last guy that threatened you.”

The resounding silence was hilariously smug.

The moments’ respite did not last long, as it seemed that the Einherjar were done messing around with a long range approach. With a shout and a resounding _For Asgard!_ the soldiers charged through the breach en masse, and Tony braced himself against the ground, preparing to be swamped.

Just before they were upon him Tony jumped, blasting with his right foot and his left hand to get a bit of lift and flying straight into the thick of things. The repulsors worked like a dream and kept the majority of the oncoming soldiers off him, but he was quickly in danger of becoming overrun. The lasers had the Einherjar flying out of the way, more than a few screaming in pain– the laser couldn’t cut through their armour, but it made short work of their less protected legs. But they learned fast, and soon every laser Tony used was caught on a round shield and he was forced to rely on his repulsors once more. The unibeam always remained in the back of his mind as an option, but Tony was all too aware that the damages and broken wiring were already a drain on his power, and he didn’t want to risk using too much in one go, not when he was so outnumbered.

One against a hundred. It seemed entirely unfair, especially when the one was a human and the hundred were gods. And they had the audacity to accuse Loki of not fighting fair?

A well-thrown spear caught Tony on the side of his head and he went down, the helmet undamaged but the inside of his skull ringing something fierce. He rolled with the fall though and managed to use his one working boot repulsor to twist back to his feet, but the soldiers had used the opportunity to advance closer still. He was boxed in, with nowhere to go.

In one last-ditch effort Tony shouted for JARVIS to release the rest of the flares, but those who were hit with the sparking projectiles were merely replaced with more soldiers.

Tony realised with a pang that he wasn’t going to be able to get out of this one. He was surrounded on all sides, he couldn’t fly, he was out of artillery, and he only had one working hand repulsor.

As much as it grated on everything he was, Tony ordered JARVIS to retract his armour. It scraped and screeched but it folded away just as Tony had designed it to, and he was left in the middle of the enclosing circle with only the minimal armour, his jeans, and, somewhat ironically, an Avengers themed T-Shirt embossed with a cartoon image of Mjölnir. Thankfully, however, it was covered by his chest piece. He did _not_ want to have to explain that one.

At least Loki was still out there, somewhere. He’d rescued Tony from Asgard before, surely he could do it again.

Raising his hands above his head in a _true_ surrender, this time, Tony faced the guy in charge.

“All right,” he said. “You got me.”

“Man of Iron,” the Einherjar’s officer said harshly. “You are under arrest.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know my rights,” Tony muttered. “Or rather, my lack of them. Being mortal in Asgard comes _such_ perks.”

A soldier that Tony was _pretty_ sure was the same guy from right at the beginning of the fight came at him with a set of fancy handcuffs, and affixed them just below the bright red armour on his forearms.

Tony was surprised they weren’t taking his armour off him, but hey. He wasn’t going to complain about it.

He was, however, willing to complain about the guy that pulled out a knife and grabbed him around the neck. The blade that suddenly appeared at Tony’s throat was bitingly sharp, and he held back the instinctive desire to swallow the bile that pooled in his mouth, afraid that the movement would result in a slice.

“Loki!” the officer shouted. “We have your mortal. Come out!”

“Do you really think he’s going to come out?” Tony asked, making sure that his words were dripping with incredulity. “This is _Loki_ we’re talking about. I have it on good authority that he’s a jerk. Totally self-serving. Absolute _bastard_. There’s no way he would give himself up for the likes of—”

“Now, now, that’s no way to talk about your rescuer, Stark,” said Loki, leaning casually against an orange tree near the now significantly widened breach in Freyja’s godforsaken ‘fence’.

It was difficult to make a rude gesture when his hands were shackled together, but Tony managed.

Loki, however, eyed Tony’s manacles curiously, and not without a hint of amusement.

“What?” Tony asked him, but Loki just pressed his lips together and gave his head a small shake.

“Prince Loki,” the Einherjar’s officer exclaimed loudly. “If you do not surrender yourself quietly, we will kill your mortal.”

Yeah. No rights at all.

The solider holding Tony shifted menacingly, and Tony was forced to lift his chin to avoid the knife that rose slightly higher.

“Well,” Loki sighed dramatically. “Then I suppose I have no choice in the matter.”

And okay, so the situation was a bit dire, but surely there was some sort of magic Loki could do to get them out of it? Tony had seen Loki defeat Wanda Maximoff without breaking a sweat, take out a whole array of SHIELD agents in moments, and disappear a living room full of Einherjar with nothing more than a flick of his fingers. _Surely–_

Then the knife at Tony’s throat shifted again, finally cutting into his skin, and as Tony gasped in pain Loki’s expression hardened. But he didn’t do anything rash– instead he simply moved forward and offered his wrists. It was clear that Loki wasn’t willing to risk Tony’s neck.

The Einherji holding Tony thankfully dropped his knife just as a few other soldiers rounded on Loki, manacles and chains in hand.

“I heard a bit of an explosion,” Loki said coolly, as if he weren’t being shackled with heavy chains and held by four Einherjar like a terribly dangerous wolf. “Was that you, dear?”

“Yeah,” Tony shrugged, his own chains jangling. “You know how I like blowing things up.”

“Silence,” the Einherjar officer snapped. “Now, Prince Loki, as you are aware, your status as an Odinson under the law means we cannot search your person without concrete proof of your wrongdoings.”

 _Which you don’t have_ , Tony thought, though he was a little put out that Loki was being read his rights when Tony was only given the courtesy of being bait. Clearly he hadn’t exploded enough stuff to be taken seriously.

“As such,” the Einherji continued, “You shall muster what little honour of yours that remains, and you must tell us what you took from the Lady Freyja, so that you may be properly sentenced.”

There was a full minute where no one moved, and Loki merely watched the Einherjar bristle with annoyance as he ignored their officer’s question. Then—

“Speak!” the officer thundered, his face reddened with anger.

Loki cocked his head. “Oh, I’m sorry, I thought you had requested silence? My mistake.”

Tony snorted, and Loki’s lips quirked.

“You will speak the truth, Silvertongue,” the Einherjar officer snarled, stepping up so that he was close into Loki’s space, raising his axe threateningly so that it was level with Loki's throat.

“I swear on my honour,” Loki said, almost mockingly holding a hand over his heart, his eyes dancing with unconcealed amusement, “that on this day, I have not stolen anything from Lady Freyja.”

The Einherjar frowned in disbelief to a man. One at the back was even muttering to the guy beside him, and Tony would have put money on the fact that the conversation was something along the lines of _he doesn’t even have any honour to swear upon._

But the soldiers were stuck. Cleared as he was of his former crimes, the most they were able to pin on Loki at this point was trespassing– and, of course, his earlier destruction of the wall that had eased Tony’s way. The fact that Loki was a member of the royal family protected him from a search unless the Einherjar could prove something darker was at work, but they couldn’t do that without a search in the first place.

Not, Tony thought grimly, that they would find anything if they did. The Einherjar might not believe Loki but Tony did, and if Loki had been unable to take anything from Freyja’s garden then the whole thing had been for naught, anyway.

They’d been captured, and now they were going to get thrown in the dungeon for trespassing and destruction of property. All for no gain at all.

Great.

Thanks a lot, Loki.

—•—

“You know,” said Tony, keeping his tone light and cheerful in spite of their honestly perilous situation, “the last time I was imprisoned in Asgard, I got way nicer digs.”

“You’re making a habit of it,” Loki said airily, leaning his head back against the wall he was sitting by and closing his eyes.

Honestly, though, compared to last time, their cell was terribly sparse. Entirely empty of, well, _anything_ , it was essentially a white box with a viewing window on two sides. The windows were not entirely clear, swirling slightly with orange lines that betrayed the existence of the force field keeping them inside. Apart from the orange of the barriers and the dark walls of the dungeon outside their cell, all Tony could see was white, white, white. It was a wonder that Loki hadn’t lost his sanity during the months he was stuck in the place. Speaking of—

“I’m sorry, between the two of us, who gets imprisoned here more often?” Tony asked, crossing his arms as he stood over Loki.

“If we consider time spent imprisoned relative to time spent on Asgard at all, you certainly come out in the lead, my dear,” Loki replied wryly.

“However,” Tony said thoughtfully, “If we take into account who was at _fault_ for any of my imprisonments—“

“They are all on you,” Loki said. “I didn’t _ask_ you to come here.”

“Um, yes,” said Tony. “You did.”

“Only because you were being impertinent!” Loki opened his eyes to stare up at Tony in annoyance. “I did not _want_ you here, I knew that this would happen.”

“No,” Tony said. “You might not have wanted me, but you needed me. And Loki, at this point, I’m not going to turn away from you just because you _want_ it. Not when you’re in danger, at any rate. You _know_  that.”

Loki leaned back against the wall, his expression closing off. Tony mirrored his pose, throwing himself down a yard or so to Loki’s right. His neck stung and his left knee was aching, and his head was pounding from the hit it had taken near the end of the fight. He was pretty sure that the rest of him was covered in bruises, if the general soreness was anything to go by. He needed a rest, and the wall looked about as comfy as it was going to get. He pulled off the battered chest and back plates but kept on the rest of his armour, revelling in the extra freedom of movement but not quite comfortable enough to want to risk removing what little remained of his weapons.

“So, any plans on how to escape?” Tony asked, trying to extend an olive branch but not quite managing to keep the bite out of his tone.

“No,” Loki said bluntly. “This is the same cell I was held in during my last stay in Asgard’s dungeons. It is especially designed to hold mages.”

“Mages, maybe, but not Tony Stark,” Tony commented. “They made a mistake putting us in here together.”

“They thought you possessed seiðr,” Loki told him. “Doubtless they have seen nothing like your armour before. That is why they did not take it from you. They believed the manacles and now the cell would dampen its power.”

“I’m Midgardian, though,” Tony said, confused.

“I have told you before that there are sorcerers on Midgard.”

Yeah, that was true. Still, though, it was just an odd thought, that someone could think of Tony as a magician. Then again– any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. If Tony time travelled back a thousand years and showed the Vikings a StarkPhone, maybe he’d be lauded as a god, as well.

“So, we’re in a magic proof box with nothing to use and nothing to entertain ourselves,” Tony sighed. “Great.”

“Relax, Anthony,” Loki said, glancing back to him once again, this time reluctantly amused. “It will take at least a few days before you start losing your mind out of boredom, I am sure.”

“How the hell did you cope with this for months?” Tony asked.

Loki shrugged. “My mother brought me a few books. Besides, I am used to it. The Allfather has been punishing me this way since I was a child.”

“What?” Tony asked. “What do you mean?”

“He knows how restless I can get, how I need something to keep my mind busy,” Loki replied. “Thus, he knows it is the best way to punish me. I remember one particular instance– I was only about your equivalent of ten years old, and I had to go to this dreadfully dull dinner party with all the Asgardian nobles. We were bored, and Thor dared me that I wouldn’t be able to make any of them blush.” Loki snorted. “He should have known better. Afterward, he had to wear a dress to the next royal event, and I was grounded for an entire Midgardian year.”

Tony frowned, vague memories of the Norse legends he had read up on back when Loki and Thor had first appeared in New York beginning to surface. “Wait a second—“

“With the exception of public events, I had to stay in my room,” Loki continued, his eyes glazing with nostalgia. “And honestly, that wouldn’t have been so bad, if not for the fact that Odin removed all my magic books, and the only material I was allowed to read for the entire _year_ was the sorts of books Thor liked to read, manuals on fighting techniques and tales of great battles and so forth. They gave me a headache, and I probably would have gouged my eyes out before half the time was up if one of the girls from my classes had not sneaked some real books in for me using her magic.”

“Was her name Sigyn, by any chance?” Tony asked, his lips twitching.

Loki’s eyes narrowed, and Tony knew he’d hit the mark.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Tony giggled, putting his head in his hands. “This has to be the best instance of ‘telephone’ I have _ever_ _seen_.”

“What do you mean?” Loki asked.

“You really haven’t seen much of what Earth thought of you before you and Thor came back in the past few years, have you?” Tony asked.

“I heard the story with the horse and vowed to never pay attention to them ever again.”

“Yeah,” Tony said. “Probably for the best. From what you just said, the legends got pretty twisted.”

“My punishment became legend?” Loki asked, disgusted. “How could they take my pain and turn it into entertainment in such a way?”

“Oh dear,” said Tony. If this was how Loki reacted when he thought humans believed the _truth_ about him being grounded… “Yeah, okay, you are officially banned from reading _any_ of the Norse stuff.”

Loki frowned and Tony could just tell that he was curious, but Tony held up a hand to silence him.

“No. Trust me on this one.”

The nod looked like it was painful, but Tony was willing to take it. Conversation done, Loki leaned back against the wall exactly as he had before, eyes falling shut.

Tony took the opportunity to consider him closely, drinking in every inch, taking the time to pay attention to small details in a way he had always loved to delight in but recently had not had the time to indulge. His eyes lingered on the curve of Loki’s throat where his head was tilted back, then skimmed up to sharp cheekbones and caught on the dark shadows smudged under Loki’s closed eyes. Tony frowned as he realised what he had been missing– Loki looked fucking exhausted.

The tranquillity of the dungeon was broken for a moment as a fight erupted in the cell adjacent to theirs. Tony couldn’t actually see what was going on, but he heard the ruckus, he heard the scream, and he certainly heard the single Einherji left to guard the dungeons banging on their cell and ordering them to stop. The guard didn’t go in to break up the fight, and the scream cut off with a gurgle. It was unsettling, and as the guard walked past Tony and Loki to head back to his post Tony saw that he was awfully pale, his complexion almost grey. Tony figured he couldn’t blame the poor guy– he’d been left to deal with dangerous criminals alone.

Tony was just glad he had been mistaken for a mage and locked in with Loki, instead of in any of the other cells.

It was then that Tony noticed that Loki hadn’t moved a fraction during the commotion, remaining slumped against the wall like it was the first moment of calm he had seen in weeks. And that worried Tony more than almost anything else, because—

He remembered the blood on Loki’s side when he had come to ask for Tony’s help, the absolute reluctance in doing so to the point that he was almost contradicting himself, something that had even been present in their conversation moments ago. The distress in his voice when he had thought Tony was _tiring_ of him, where before Tony would have placed a bet on a cocky and confident response. There was something just a little bit _off_.

The desperation in Loki’s actions and manner had been so painfully visceral that there was no way Tony could ignore it. And this… this _had_ to be about Thanos. Tony could think of no other reason why Loki would act with such desperation and need, why he would be so adamant that he had to work alone. He had even stated that it was about life and death, and really– Thanos was the only being who had ever managed to infect Loki with quite so much fear.

Except that didn’t quite add up either, because… because Loki was relaxed, now. Locked in Asgard’s dungeon for who knows how long, and Loki was more relaxed than he had been the last several times he’d been in the Malibu mansion. In Loki’s own _home_.

“Loki?” Tony asked, keeping his voice deliberately soft. “If you didn’t want me here that badly… Why _did_ you ask for my help?”

“Because I needed it,” Loki replied wearily.

“Yeah, I get that. But why? What was so important?”

Loki simply sighed in response.

“You know,” Tony added nonchalantly, “for someone who kept this whole thing from me because you were worried I’d get in trouble, you’re acting awfully chill right now.” Tony frowned. “Especially considering the fact that we didn’t even get what we came for.”

“Oh, but Anthony,” Loki replied, not even bothering to open his eyes. “Whoever said that we didn’t get what we came for?”

Tony’s eyes widened, his thoughts immediately sent veering off course. “No,” he gasped. “You _didn’t._ ”

A sly smile crept its way across Loki’s lips, and he finally turned back to look at Tony expectantly.

“You _did_. How on _Earth_ did you pull that off?”

“I think you’ll find that I did it on _Asgard_ ,” Loki replied, half-heartedly dodging Tony’s annoyed poke.

“So what did we score?” Tony asked curiously. “You’ve played this whole thing real close to the chest, you know.” And damn it, but they _still_ hadn’t properly had that discussion Pepper had ordered. “It had better be worth it.”

Slowly, Loki reached into his pocket and pulled out something gold and bright, his expression softening, becoming a little more vulnerable than Tony had seen him in months.

Tony blinked. Then he narrowed his eyes, and tilted his head to the side a little, thinking that maybe if he looked from a different angle it would turn into something far more interesting. Because all the lead up, the effort Loki had put in to retrieve it, and the hopeful affection in Loki’s expression seemed to suggest that this was something monumental, but—

But all Tony saw was an apple.

Sure, it was quite a perfect specimen of an apple, even if it were a little curious. It was entirely free of blemishes, perfectly formed and oh so golden that it almost appeared to be glowing even in the bright whiteness of the cell. It drew Tony’s gaze, and his eyes flickered across the smooth expanse of gilded skin, the perfectly curved stem, and the single, aesthetically pleasing leaf. It was beautiful.

But, yeah. It was still just an apple.

“Uh,” Tony said, still examining the thing and half expecting it to start doing magic tricks as a justification for all the fuss. “It’s pretty?”

Loki’s expression fell. “You do not know what it is?” He asked, and the sudden downturn to his lips just reinforced Tony’s earlier suspicions that this was something _significant_.

Also, it was becoming more and more apparent that this had absolutely _nothing_ to do with Thanos.

“It’s an apple?” Tony tried. “It’s a golden– _wait._ ” Tony held up a hand as Loki frowned and went to speak, silencing him before he could do so. The earlier conversation had shaken loose Tony’s memories of the Norse legends he had Googled way back when the Asgardians had first shown themselves. There was a story that Tony had paid particular attention to for obvious reasons, a story involving a kidnapped goddess and some fruit of a particular sort. While Tony couldn’t _quite_ believe that Loki had ever turned the goddess of youth into a _nut_ \- although, to be honest, that did sound like something Loki would do - their previous discussion made it perfectly clear that at least some of the myths, while exaggerated, were based in truth. And the object clasped in Loki’s hand was all the proof that Tony thought he needed.

“No freaking way,” Tony whispered in little more than an exhale, struggling to wrap his head around the enormity of exactly what was being offered. “ _Loki_.”

“I stole this for you, Anthony,” Loki said, his expression open and exposed in a way that had Tony shivering. “It is my gift to you, and I…” Loki broke himself off, and his voice cracked a little on the question– “Will you accept it?”

The sudden turn had Tony feeling like he had whiplash, and caught in a web of shock and disbelief and _longing_ , he found himself quite unable to do little more than stare.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tony quoted Arthur C Clarke in this chapter ("Any sufficiently advanced technology...")


	3. Plan C: The Great Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _a.k.a. Tony’s friends are way too good at ruining his plans, damn all of them (but they only do it because they care)_

Loki’s expression was carefully cultivated, perfectly blank as he waited for Tony’s answer, the golden apple still held in his hand and hovering between them. Somewhere among the tangled mess of his racing thoughts, Tony recognised that the scene was almost poetic. He and Loki were both so similar and yet so contrary, two kindred spirits drawn together but held apart by differences so broad that they were difficult to overcome. Even though they were more than willing to cross the breach of species and age and inclinations toward mischief bordering on villainous plots, the matter of their lifespans was always something hovering below the edge of the horizon, just waiting to creep up on them. Odin had seen it, had warned them of the consequences of such an unbalance. They may have scorned him, but it didn’t eliminate the truth of his words.

They couldn’t face the thought of separation, had never even considered it– but by staying together, they were dooming themselves to a future of hardship and pain. But now, all of a sudden it seemed that Loki had achieved the impossible, and there was the apple, the very symbol of their difference, bridging the gap between them. Shining brightly like a beacon in the darkest of storms, providing a safe haven, a _solution_ from the worry of the inevitability of broken hearts.

“You…” Tony started, but his voice felt thick and heavy, and he was forced to swallow before he could go any further. “ _Loki_. This whole time, you were… you were trying to get hold of one of these?”

Loki nodded harshly, a single jerk of his chin that betrayed his stress.

Tony’s lips formed one word almost of their own accord. “ _Why?_ ”

“You want to know why?” Loki asked. “Why I would risk the clemency Odin granted me, why I would risk everything on the chance that I could procure the only thing that could match your life to mine?”

Tony went to respond, but Loki continued before he could.

“I did it because I cannot face a future of watching you wither and grow old,” Loki said, his words sure and firm despite the crack of vulnerability in his expression. “Because I cannot imagine a future for me without you in it. Because I love you, Anthony Stark, and I would have you by my side forever.” Loki’s expression turned wary again, nervous in a manner that Tony found achingly recognisable. And there was something of an echo in Loki’s voice as he added– “If that is what you wish.”

Tony would like to say that in that moment, his thoughts turned to his friends. To Pepper and Rhodey and Happy, to Bruce and Clint and Steve and Natasha. To the fact that if he were to match his life to Loki’s he would merely be bridging one gap to form another, that he would outlive them, that he would watch them grow old while he stayed ever the same. Perhaps then he might have hesitated, might have considered the true consequences, might have been unwilling to go through that pain. Or perhaps that realisation would have allowed him an inkling of what Loki had been going through, of what it might be like to live in fear of the inevitability of watching the person you cared about most turn to dust.

But the truth is, when Tony truly realised the depth of Loki’s meaning, the _honesty_ of the raw anguish in his words, he snatched the apple from Loki’s hand without a further thought and took an immediate, crunching bite.

The fruit was sweet and juicy, yet it was tart and crisp all at once. The taste of fresh apple and burnt metal and beautiful, _familiar_ coconut exploded across his tongue, and Tony moaned with pleasure. It tasted like every good experience Tony had ever had, bringing forth images of happiness and _life_. It was exhilarating, and Tony couldn’t get enough of it.

“Anthony,” Loki whispered, and Tony looked up to meet his wide green gaze. “You…”

Tony wanted nothing more in that moment than to take another bite of the luscious fruit. His body was aching with it, physically _pulling_ him to eat the rest, as if it knew exactly what promises lay hidden beneath the shiny golden skin. The ache in Tony’s knee and the pain in his neck was already fading, and he was yearning to see if more would heal his aches entirely, or maybe even heal the scarring on his chest. But Tony forced the desire away and shifted across the floor, pressing his side against Loki’s and wrapping his free arm around the god’s shoulders.

“Did you ever doubt that I would accept this?” he asked. “If you went to the trouble of looking—“

“I had wondered,” Loki said. “Recently, you’ve seemed… unsure.”

“You were leaving,” Tony reminded him softly. “You kept disappearing, and you wouldn’t tell me where you went.”

“You doubted me,” Loki said, his eyes flashing with hurt.

“Maybe,” Tony admitted. “I know now, that it was irrational, of course. But I still don’t understand why you didn’t trust me enough to tell me what you were doing.”

“To steal a golden apple is one of the highest crimes anyone can commit under Asgardian law,” Loki said, closing his eyes. “They are more precious than anything, and that is why they are so carefully protected. If it became known what I was trying to do, anyone who was aware of my actions but did nothing to stop me would have been punished just as mercilessly.”

“But the Einherjar don’t know you’ve taken it,” Tony realised. “You told them you didn’t steal anything from Freyja’s garden.”

“Yes,” Loki said, his eyes flashing with pride for just a moment. “I made sure that you couldn’t be implicated in this. Even if my theft is discovered, you can claim to have had no knowing part in it.”

“You were just trying to protect me,” Tony said. He’d known that already, of course, but it was nice to have the confirmation. “But Loki, that doesn’t excuse it. We’re supposed to be a team.”

“It wasn’t _just_ about that,” Loki admitted. “Though I will admit that it was a large part. But I wanted to do this for you… It was something that I needed to do by myself.”

“You promised me once, that you would try to stay,” Tony said quietly. “Did you mean that? Or was that just empty words to make me feel better?”

“Anthony—“

“Look, I know who you are,” Tony said. “And I never want to make you feel like I’m caging you in, but—“

“You’ve never made me feel that,” Loki said, turning slightly so they were angled together, his own arm curling around Tony’s waist. “Not ever. And I’m sorry that I’ve made _you_ feel like you can’t talk to me about these things.“

“I don’t want an apology,” Tony said firmly, trailing his fingers across Loki’s cheek. “I’ve had enough of those. All I want is for you to promise that it’s not going to happen again. That you’re not going to keep something like this from me because you think that it’s _safer_.”

“I can’t promise that,” Loki said immediately. “I will always try to protect you, even if you’re a little less fragile, now.”

“I’ve never been fragile,” Tony said immediately, his hand dropping to hold Loki’s shoulder firmly. “This is exactly what I was talking about. I thought we had an understanding– I thought you saw me for who I was.”

“I do,” Loki said. “I’ve never thought you weak.”

“Then why—“

“You _know_ why,” Loki snapped. “Do you need me to say it again?” He took a deep breath. “I love, you Anthony, and I can’t let anything happen to you.”

Tony smiled, small but honest. “I can’t let you throw yourself on the fire for me,” he said, and when Loki glanced up quickly Tony knew that he recognised the echo in his words. “I can’t lose you, either.” Tony held up the apple, and it glinted as it caught the light. “I know what this means, for you. But do you realise what it means for me?”

Loki averted his gaze. “I know,” he said quietly. “That’s why I didn’t think you would take it, but you… you picked me, over everything.”

“Yes,” Tony said. “And I’d do it again. But if you get yourself killed, what then? What am I left with?” Tony shifted, pulling Loki a little closer. “I love you, too. And by eating this… I’ve just tied myself to you in more ways than just the one. I know that, I didn’t just eat it blindly.” And okay, so he probably should have thought about it a _little_ more, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it. “I ate it because I want to stay with you. I _do_. But this is a two way street, sweetheart.”

“Yes,” Loki said, nodding shortly, and Tony knew that he meant it. Loki, after all, had been the one to get the apple, and that was one hell of a fucking declaration. “I can’t tell you how much it pleases me that you wish to stay with me… after everything.”

“Can we promise to just talk to each other?” Tony asked. “I saw, with Steve… we nearly broke apart because of keeping secrets. I know that this is entirely different, but I don’t want to lose you for something as stupid as a miscommunication.”

Loki closed his eyes, and pressed their foreheads together. “You’re not going to lose me,” he said.

Tony sighed, and sagged in Loki’s hold. “Please.”

There was a long moment where the only sound was their breathing as they held each other close.

“I might need some reminders,” Loki said. “But we are going to make his work.”

“Yes,” Tony agreed, leaning in to press his lips to Loki’s in a short, sweet kiss.

They stayed close for a few minutes, relishing in what they had missed, revelling in the simple comfort of affectionate touches. But the moment ended as sweet moments tend to do, and Tony pulled back a few inches and let the reality of what needed to happen next wash over him.

“Now,” he said to Loki, holding up the still perfectly fresh apple. “I am going to eat the rest of this, so that I can be capable of kicking your ass the next time you think you need to protect me, even if that’s fifty odd years into the future.”

Loki quirked a brow, though he didn’t quite hide the fondness in his gaze. “Is that the only reason you’re going to eat an apple of immortality?”

“Oh, I’m totally doing it for the added strength and endurance, too,” Tony said with a nod. “I can’t _wait_ to see Steve’s face when he realises I can keep up with him on one of his morning runs.”

Loki’s eyes glittered with amusement, but the smirk on his lips was one Tony recognised as slightly supercilious, and he sighed in pre-emptive disappointment.

“That _is_ what the apple does, right?” he asked. “I mean, the _immortality_ part is fairly self explanatory but will it give me added strength as well? Like in Hercules?”

“Will it turn you into an Aesir, you mean?” Loki asked. Then he quirked a brow. “Are you comparing yourself to a children’s film?”

“No,” Tony denied. “I mean. Maybe?”

Loki shook his head in amusement. “It will not alter your species,” he said. “You will remain human.”

Tony thought for a moment, and found that really, he wasn’t all _that_ disappointed. “That’s okay,” he said with a shrug. “I didn’t want to end up looking like Cap or Thor, anyway. I like people looking at me for my brains, rather than my muscles.”

“I took the apple for you because it will enable you to live as long as I,” Loki continued, his tone earnest but still wary. “It will increase your durability and healing, for that is how it grants its gift– not true immortality, but merely a lengthened expiry date for your flesh. Otherwise, your biology remains unchanged.”

“Don’t look as if I’m going to reject it now upon hearing that,” Tony said with an eye roll. “Lokes, I had no fucking clue that you were planning this, I never even thought this could be possible. You know I’m here for the extra years. I don’t want you to have to watch me grow old. Hell, _I_ don’t want to watch me grow old, not when you would stay the same. It would totally suck to not be able to keep up with you in a decade’s time.”

“You can’t anyway,” Loki said.

“Oh, you are so going to regret that, later,” Tony said. “But for now, I have an apple to eat.”

Loki watched as Tony finished the fruit, his body singing with the taste and the feeling of cooling warmth that flowed through his veins. It didn’t make a whole lot of sense, and his innate curiosity was piqued by how he could feel the tingles all the way to the tips of his fingers even while he chewed, far before any digestion could occur.

 _Magic_ , he thought, smiling as he bit into the crisp golden skin one more time.

The healing was instantaneous, boosting his energy and making his previously aching muscles sing. He could feel a fluttering around his heart and his ribcage throbbed, and he almost choked as he realised what was happening, taking a deeper breath than he had managed in years. Even after the surgery, his chest had been so damaged that the doctors had told him he’d never regain the full capacity of his lungs, but _now—_

Tony met Loki’s gaze, and paused in devouring the fruit for long enough to do something that he felt he should have from the moment he’d realised what Loki had stolen.

“ _Thank you_ ,” he said. Loki’s lips turned up in a bright, affectionate smile, and he reached out to entwine his fingers with Tony’s free hand.

They had sorted the problem, for now. Tony wasn’t naïve enough to imagine that this would be the last time they’d have such an issue, or even that this would be the worst that they’d face. But that was okay, because whatever they had to face in the future, Tony knew that they would face it together.

Once the apple was gone - core and stem and all - Tony licked his fingers free of every drop of juice, not able to leave even the smallest amount uneaten. Loki took Tony’s wrist and used it to bring him closer, and then leaned in to kiss away any excess juice that Tony might have missed.

“There is no need to thank me,” Loki whispered against his lips. “You’ve given me more than I could have ever hoped for.”

“I guess you’re not getting rid of me any time soon,” Tony said with a wink. “You’re going to have to put up with me forever, now.”

“Don’t ruin it,” Loki replied, pulling him back in and pressing their lips together once more, their mouths dancing together with practiced ease and raw desire.

Tony was still high with the taste of life on his tongue, and he drew Loki in tight, almost climbing into his lap. He tangled his hands into Loki’s hair and tugged lightly, drawing Loki away only so that he could trail his lips across Loki’s jaw.

Loki’s hands were cool as they slid under his shirt, gripping and scraping as their mouths began to work at each other more frantically. In the back of his mind Tony half wondered if they shouldn’t be slowing down, since the occupants of the cell opposite them were no doubt enjoying the show. But audience or not, Tony couldn’t bring himself to stop.

But the other prisoners _were_ making a bit of noise.

“Loki.” The name pulled from his lips in more of a moan than anything else, and Loki hummed in response before lowering his mouth to nip at Tony’s neck, and Tony almost forgot what he had been about to say. “The others,” he managed, and he felt Loki shake his head in the smallest of movements.

“Illusion,” Loki replied, hardly halting his attentions. And that was enough for Tony– he pushed lightly on Loki’s shoulder so that he was back against the wall and shifted so that he was straddling Loki’s lap, evening out their height. Tony clung to Loki tightly and the god didn’t seem to mind, responding to Tony’s possessive desperation with equal passion.

Tony lost himself in the haze that was Loki, trusting in the illusion and tuning out the jeering coming from the other cells. He also ignored the clearing of a throat and the soft tap of metal on stone, but he couldn’t miss Loki’s quiet laugh, and Tony whined when Loki backed off and looked to the barrier.

The sight of Thor standing on the other side, however, was immediately sobering.

Tony had no idea what Thor saw, but it had him huffing in amusement before he glanced around the rest of cell.

“Drop the illusion, Loki,” Thor said dryly.

“Are you sure?” Loki asked, amused.

Thor nodded. “I would see you both while I am speaking to you.”

Loki lifted his chin and dropped the illusion before Tony was properly able to straighten his shirt, and when he tried to pull away Loki merely tightened his grip around Tony’s waist, preventing him from shifting so much as an inch.

Thor rolled his eyes at the state they were in, but otherwise didn’t comment. “Aunt Freyja bid me bring you a message, brother. She says—“

“Wait, wait, back up,” Tony interrupted, pausing in his attempts to reorder himself and turning to stare at Thor. “ _Aunt_ _Freyja?_ ”

“Our mother’s sister. She is quite fond of Loki,” Thor said. “Did he not tell you this?”

Tony turned back to Loki and raised a brow.

Loki shrugged, somehow already looking prim and proper once more. Magic, probably. “I did tell you that we needn’t fear reprimand from her,” he said. “She has been complaining for centuries that she needed a new fence.”

“She is indeed most thankful that your efforts have given her an excuse to update her garden design to the current Vanir fashion without being accused of ostentation,” Thor agreed. “She also asked me to inform you that she knows what you did, and that she will not press charges if you remember that you will owe her a favour in the future.”

Loki’s smile was immediate and delighted.

“I can’t believe this,” Tony groaned. “Why couldn’t you have just _asked_ her for help?”

“She would never have agreed to such a thing,” Thor said immediately, and Loki nodded in agreement.

“She is far too clever to allow herself to be drawn into something like this, something she could be blamed for,” Loki said. “She’s always willing to help from the shadows, taking credit when it is profitable and hidden favours when it is not. Either way, she always makes sure that she is the one who gains without any of the risk.”

“I think I want to meet her,” Tony said immediately. “She sounds awesome.” _And rather similar to someone else I know_ , he thought, but he didn’t give it voice.

“That would be unwise,” said Loki.

“Indeed,” said Thor. “She may approve of your current actions, but were you to confront her she would flay you alive.”

Tony paled.

“Not literally,” Loki said quickly. “Thor is referring to her skill in flyting.”

“Something Loki has experienced first hand,” Thor commented slyly.

“I won,” Loki insisted.

“Debatable,” Thor said with a shrug. Then a smirk lifted at the corner of his lips as he leaned toward the barrier and stage whispered– “Loki was only a child, you see, she was well within her rights to call him a—“

“She _cheated_ ,” Loki snapped.

“Okay, so that’s a story I need to hear,” Tony said. “But right now, I think we have more important things to be worrying about.”

“Such as?” Thor asked, his amused smile still in place.

Tony gestured beyond where Thor was standing. “Such as the guard that’s been staring at us for the past five minutes.”

Thor spun on the spot immediately, his hammer in hand. He was probably acting on instinct– the poor, terrified guard was pressed up against the dungeon wall with Mjölnir at his neck, the occupants of the adjacent cell jeering wildly.

“Why were you eavesdropping?” Thor thundered in the guard’s rapidly paling face. “This was a private conversation between my brother, my friend, and I!”

“To be fair, this isn’t exactly a private place,” Tony said, but Thor took no notice.

“You must swear to never speak a word of this to anyone,” Thor ordered.

“Er, Thor,” said Tony.

“Not now, Stark,” Thor said dismissively. “If he spreads word of what we have spoken of—“

“But Thor, he's fainted,” Tony insisted.

Realising that the guard had, indeed, become limp, Thor jumped back and the poor guy dropped to the ground like a stone.

“Oh dear,” said Loki. “You’re going to get into trouble for that.”

“No he isn’t,” Tony said, and Thor glanced up hopefully from where he had been staring forlornly at the guard.

“I’m not?” he asked.

“No,” Tony said, crossing the room quickly to the side of the cell, considering the wall right on the edge of the shimmering orange barrier. Thor stared in confusion at Tony’s shirt, but Tony paid it no notice and focused on his task. “You’re not.”

A little note about Tony Stark– he never had responded well to captivity. The Ten Rings could easily testify to what happens when Tony is locked in a cage - or at least, they could have had they survived the experience - as could the young Einherji Odin had ordered restrain Tony the last time he had been imprisoned on Asgard. There’s no need to wax poetic about it, though one certainly could– the crux of the matter is that Tony always, in one way or another, managed to get free.

His mind was always whirring, always calculating, always looking for those tiny little opportunities that no one else could see. And he knew that Loki was clever, knew that Loki had spent months in this very cell. Therefore, Tony could conclude that every magical method of escape had already been tried, and that by consequence attacking the barrier with a repulsor or attempting to take the thing down through indirect means would be unsuccessful.

The webbed pattern of the barrier could have just been aesthetic, but Tony doubted it. The layout was very similar to something he had seen in a simulation from JARVIS when he had been playing around with creating a force field, and the pattern itself suggested that flexibility had been sacrificed for durability. It had a tensile limit - brute force _would_ work, but again, Tony was sure Loki would have tried that, and he knew he couldn’t generate anything more than what Loki, aided with his magic and his rage, would have been able to manage.

But the pattern suggested something else as well. Something far closer to home.

Magic was a form of advanced science, Thor said. Loki would always use a more complicated explanation but generally it boiled down to the same thing– seiðr was energy, and energy can be transformed. But Loki couldn’t change the barrier, it wasn’t susceptible to his magic.

Tony’s arc reactor wasn’t susceptible to magic, either.

It took a special kind of prison to hold a mage of Loki’s calibre. A prison that ran on something _other_ than magic.

A prison that ran on technology.

Tony grinned widely, raised his single working gauntlet, and _fired_.

It took a few goes - the cell was designed to hold Loki, after all - but soon the almost indistinguishable panel was dented, the edges pulling out from where they had previously fitted perfectly with the rest of the wall. Tony grinned and retracted his gauntlet, pulling a damaged piece of metal from his armour and using it to lever the panel away. As he did so he felt a shock, a jolt from the remains of a security system. It burned and blistered his skin but the pain wasn’t enough to make him stop, and soon he had the panel folded over itself. Beneath, just as Tony had suspected, was a mess of beautifully simple wires.

After that… well. The barrier was down in less than a minute.

“You should not have been able to do that,” Thor said. “The joins of the wall panelling are well hidden but if the wall is tampered with it sends out a bolt of bottled lightning that should have incapacitated someone of your… wait.” Thor’s gaze lingered on Loki. “No, it's impossible... But Freyja lives right next to…“

Loki smirked, and Thor’s eyes widened comically.

“Loki,” he said, his tone somewhere between incredulity and a growl. “Surely you _didn’t_ —“

“Goodbye, Thor,” said Loki, flicking his fingers, and Thor immediately crumpled to the ground like a puppet with cut strings.

“Okay,” said Tony. “That was slightly creepy. Have you always been able to do that?”

Loki’s only answer was a smirk, and Tony was so glad in that moment that they were on the same side. That they - holy shit - would _always_ be on the same side. Okay, that was still awesome to think about.

“Are you all right?” Loki asked. Tony focused properly and saw that Loki was frowning worriedly– and oh, right, Tony had been staring.

“Yes,” Tony said firmly. “I’m _great_.”

“That’ll be the apple,” Loki stated, nodding in understanding. But Tony wanted to deny it, to say that no, it wasn’t the apple, it was just that he had been blindsided by a random reminder that Loki wanted to stay with him for a _hell of a long time_.

Except that it kind of _was_ , because that damn apple really _did_ just put everything on a silver platter, didn’t it? It was an honest to god declaration, on the same level as– no, on a whole level _above_ getting down on one knee and—

Okay, so that was a thought Tony needed to stamp on immediately.

“Are we getting out of here or not?” Tony asked briskly, and Loki barked a laugh. Instead of taking Tony’s hand like he had expected, Loki curled an arm around his waist and pulled him closer.

“Of course we are,” he said, his lips brushing Tony’s cheekbones. “But, there are a few things we need to sort out first.”

Tony didn’t have the time to form a question before Loki had leaned away to catch Tony’s hands with his own, carefully turning the blistered flesh over in his fingers. Cool relief spread across Tony’s skin, and in moments his hands were smooth and burn free once more. Loki lifted Tony’s healed hands to his lips for a moment, then dropped them to twist his own hands in the air in a series of complicated gestures, green magic flowing into all of the cells.

Every prisoner in the dungeon dropped to the ground, and Tony knew that not a single one would remember what they had seen.

Tony wondered what the Einherjar would think– but only for a moment. While it was amusing to imagine the ridiculously helmeted soldiers running around and trying to work out how Tony and Loki had disappeared without a trace, he found that honestly? He didn’t really care.

—•—

The only other time Tony and Loki had returned to Earth from a visit to Asgard, they had been surprised by a totally unwelcome welcome back party. But this time, they would be going back to Malibu, not Avengers’ Tower. He and Loki would get back to their nice, quiet home, with only the bots and JARVIS for company. They could pull out some of Tony’s best scotch, and properly celebrate the beginning of their new—

 _Nope_ , still too cheesy.

They would drink a whole load of scotch and have a whole heap of fun all over the house, because Tony had honestly had enough of emotions to last him through until at _least_ next year.

He still almost half expected the mansion to be burned down or something when they got back but Loki pulled them out of the space between worlds right outside their front door, and the house looked just as it had when they had left for Asgard. It was early evening in Malibu, and the panel beside the door pulsed comfortingly blue against the gloom.

“Hey, J,” said Tony. “Nothing bad happen while we were gone?”

“No, Sir,” said JARVIS. “And might I say congratulations?”

“Eavesdropper,” Tony said fondly.

“And Mr Liesmith,” JARVIS said. “As glad as I am that this turned out well, I would like for you to remember what should happen if you cause Mr Stark distress again.”

“And what’s that?” Loki asked curiously.

“Dummy’s new additions to the house will be the least of your worries,” JARVIS responded ominously, and Loki turned away from the door to hide his laughter.

“Oookay,” said Tony. “JARVIS, Lokes and I sorted this out, no need to pull out the HAL vibes. Just let us in, will you?”

Tony was still feeling pretty great about it all, until they turned a corner and he spotted the blonde super soldier on the couch.

“Goddamn it, JARVIS!”

“Don’t blame JARVIS,” said Steve, standing and taking a single step forward. “Miss Potts told me that there was an emergency.”

“ _Pepper_ ,” Tony whined, turning to where she was perched on the other side of the couch, before rapidly changing tack and taking a big step back. Her expression was hard and there was a storm brewing behind her eyes, and her hands were clasped so tightly in her lap that her knuckles were white. “Pepper,” Tony said again, cautiously this time. “Are you okay?”

Evidently, that was not the best thing to say.

She rose to her feet and stalked forward.

“How could you do this to me?” Pepper snapped, standing right in Tony’s space. “ _Again!_ ”

“Sorry?” Tony said, but Pepper had always been able to tell when Tony didn’t actually know what he was apologising for, and her frown only deepened.

“Sorry?” She asked. “That’s it?”

“I didn’t realise you’d be so worried,” Tony said insistently. “We were only gone for what, a day?”

“I couldn’t get hold of you,” Pepper said. “And JARVIS simply said that you were ‘unavailable.’ I worried, so I came here, and the living room was destroyed and full of workmen—“

“They’ve done a good job,” Tony said, glancing around appreciatively. You could hardly tell that the Bifröst had destroyed the roof a few days earlier.

“Tony,” Pepper said firmly.

“Sorry,” Tony said again, though he couldn’t quite stop the small smirk when he spotted Rolf’s sword mounted on the wall. _Nice touch, JARVIS._

“Tony!” Pepper’s glare had greatly intensified, so this time, Tony made sure he was properly paying attention.

“Okay, Pep,” said Tony. “Look, I had to go—“

“You had to?” Pepper asked.

“Yes,” said Tony. “Loki—“

“Oh of course,” Pepper snapped. “If Loki asks you to do something, you do it, right? Never mind how he’s been treating you the past few weeks.”

“Miss Potts,” Loki cut in, and Tony could have face palmed. “If I may—“

“And _you_!” Pepper rounded on Loki, her eyes once more blazing with rage. “Do you know what you’ve put Tony through these past few weeks? Do you?”

Loki raised his hands and took a step back, his eyes wide.

“ _Pepper,_ ” Tony complained. “There’s no need—“

“Oh, there is,” Pepper snapped. “Don’t you dare start now, Tony. You maybe don’t understand what it is like to have your best friend think they aren’t good enough because of something that someone they love has done, but know that it is _not_ an experience I am willing to repeat. I don’t care if he’s a god, I have powerful friends, and if he ever makes you so much as doubt yourself for even a moment, then I’ll—“

“Ma’am,” said Steve, placing a light hand on her shoulder. “Perhaps this conversation would go better if you calmed a little.”

Pepper looked like she was about to bite Steve’s hand off and Tony was about to step in for the safety of all when Loki shook his head.

“Leave her be, Captain,” he said. “Miss Potts is correct.”

Pepper blinked, but recovered with the grace of a pro. “Yes,” she said. “Damn right, I am.”

And oh god, if Pepper was cursing, this was going to be bad.

“Pepper,” Tony said, hoping to get in before she exploded. “Look—“

“Oh, don’t you ‘ _look_ ’ me, Tony Stark,” Pepper snapped. “The both of you just swan in here like everything has been totally fine the past few weeks—“

“It hasn’t been,” Tony said, cutting her off mid-stride. “Is that what you want me to hear? Yes, Loki has been absent for a while, but he did it because he loves me, not because he wanted to hurt me! It wasn't his fault, not really, and I've forgiven—"

“Anthony,” Loki said. “Stop.”

“Loki,” Tony started, but one pleading glance was enough to silence him.

“Miss Potts, I know what I did,” Loki said. “And I know that it hurt Anthony. But please understand that I did it believing that it was what was best for him, and that we have worked this out between ourselves. I know that you do not trust me, but I would have you know that it will never be my intention to truly hurt him.”

“I do believe that you love him,” Pepper said. “But you’re right. I don’t trust you.”

“It is a good thing, then,” Loki said, “That it is not your decision who Anthony chooses to be with.”

“Tony is my friend,” Pepper replied.

“Yes, and I’m also capable of making my own decisions,” Tony cut in. He didn’t mean to be harsh, he knew that Pepper was only acting with his interests in mind. “Pepper, we’ve worked that out,” Tony said, more softly this time. “Why can’t you just trust me enough—“

“Tony.” Pepper’s expression softened. “I do trust you, you know that.”

“I feel like we’ve had this conversation before,” Tony said with a frown. “And I’m pretty sure it went differently last time.”

Pepper sighed. “You know I care about you, Tony,” She said. “And it’s hard to hear that after the last few weeks—“

“I did what you said, Pep,” Tony told her. “We talked, we sorted things, and we’re in a good place.”

Pepper took another step closer, and raised her hand to cup his cheek. She studied him carefully and Tony let her, opened up and just let her _see_. He didn’t know what she found, but when she stepped back, she seemed to be softer, somehow. More relaxed.

“Okay, Tony,” she said. “You do seem better.”

“I am,” Tony insisted, and Pepper gave him a small smile.

“Good,” Pepper said, and then she frowned again. “But if you _ever_ run off to another planet again without telling me where you’re going—“

“You’ll call your powerful friends?” Tony asked. “I think I could bribe Nat to let to me off easy.”

“Against what I have on her?” Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.”

“Okay, that’s terrifying,” Tony said. “What do you have on her?”

“I really hope that we never have to find out,” said Steve, his gaze flicking between them all.

“Yes,” said Pepper. “You better had. And Loki?”

“Yes, Miss Potts?” Loki asked.

“You’ll never do that to him again.”

Loki inclined his head. “If I do, I am sure that JARVIS will set me straight long before you even hear of it.”

“It would be my pleasure,” JARVIS responded, and Tony smiled.

Pepper, though, seemed dissatisfied with Loki’s roundabout answer, but Steve intercepted her before she could say any more.

“I know you care for Tony,” Steve told her. “I do as well. But you haven’t seen them together, not really.”

“I’ve seen the footage,” Pepper said, “And Loki has come as Tony’s plus one to several events—“

“You haven’t seem them just at home, when they think no one’s watching.” Steve glanced to Tony and grinned. “It’s cute.”

Tony sighed. “Loki’s right, we shouldn’t have to explain ourselves,” he said. “But Pepper… he makes me happy. Can’t you accept that?”

“Okay, Tony,” Pepper said, though she still took the opportunity to shoot Loki a warning glare. “I’ll try.”

Loki was smiling amusedly, and it seemed so out of place in the context that Tony just had to ask.

“I had always thought your Miss Potts to be a brilliant but soft-hearted woman,” Loki muttered in answer. “I see now that your comparison between her and Freyja was remarkably astute.”

“What was that?” Pepper asked, raising an eyebrow and somehow making the gesture appear threatening.

“Loki was just comparing you to a goddess,” Tony said, and Loki was quick to nod in agreement.

Pepper narrowed her eyes and Tony was already thinking up ways to escape when they were saved by the sky outside exploding in bright colours, and a moment later Thor came thundering through the front door.

“Loki!” he exclaimed. “We were not finished talking!”

“Oh for—“ Tony turned his eyes to the ceiling. “Sure, everyone come in to Tony’s house. Why don’t we call the rest of the team? Why don’t we call Rhodey and Happy, make it a real party! Everyone’s welcome, it’s not like I wanted some time alone with Loki or anything.”

“Do you know what you have done?” Thor asked, ignoring Tony entirely to square off in front of his brother. “You have put not only yourself but Stark at risk! To steal one of Asgard’s most precious treasures—“

“Excuse me, you _what?”_ Steve asked, his opinion of Loki seeming to do an entire one-eighty in half a second.

“It was necessary,” Loki said slowly, the words stretched long and deep.

“It was reckless,” Thor snapped. “I never thought I would accuse you of such, brother, but it is true.”

“I would like to know what’s going on,” Steve said firmly.

“So would I,” said Pepper.

“It’s none of your business,” Tony snapped, feeling protective of the moments they had shared in the relative privacy of their prison cell. “This is between me and Loki, and okay yeah, it’s pretty big, but I don’t think that right now any of you guys have a fucking right to it, okay? Maybe I’ll tell you about later, but for now, just keep your noses out.”

There was pause where Steve and Pepper stared at Tony in shock, and Thor frowned at him in disapproval.

The tense moment was broken when something in the room flashed gold and then, without warning, JARVIS activated the defence system. The icy torrent poured from the ceiling, this time laced with a good dose of electricity and a smattering of fire extinguisher foam, all twisted together into one horrific cascade.

“JARVIS!” Tony exclaimed.

“Oh god,” said Pepper.

“Oh _yes_ ,” Loki grinned. “I had hoped to see this particular system in operation. I missed it, the last _twice_.”

“Should we be more concerned about this?” Steve asked, looking to Tony.

“What are you doing, JARVIS?” Tony asked, hoping that the AI simply hadn’t grown bored and was attempting to use a malfunction as an excuse to redecorate again.

In answer, JARVIS let up on the torrent just enough so that they could see the cowering Einherjar through the ice, shivering from the cold and flinching every time a spark of electricity came into contact with his metal armour. Tony noticed that the stupid ornate helmet was taking more hits than anywhere else, and wondered if JARVIS was doing it on purpose. When the soldier shifted so that Tony could see his face, he realised that the answer was probably a yes.

“Oh great, it’s this guy again,” Tony groaned. As if there weren’t already enough people in his house. “Heya Rolf, long time, not long enough.”

 _Rolf,_ Loki mouthed, his green eyes dancing with mirth.

“What is the meaning of this?” Thor asked, his earlier disapproval deepening. “Stark, why are you treating an Asgardian warrior in such a way?”

“I’m afraid this is my doing, Mr Odinson,” JARVIS said. “I was given permission to detain this particular Asgardian if he ever decided to trespass in this house again.”

Well, that was certainly glossing over what Tony had _actually_ said. JARVIS was probably right in thinking that Steve, at least, wouldn’t have approved of his wording.

“I may have been a little overzealous,” JARVIS finished.

Pepper’s gaze was still caught on the cowering soldier. “I’ll say,” she muttered. “Tony, can you—“

“Let up, JARVIS,” Tony said immediately. “You’ve had your fun. Let’s give the guy a chance to explain himself.”

“Sir?”

“Yes,” Tony sighed. “If his explanation is not to your liking, you may ice him again. But I’d really rather not to have to deal with the Bifröst through the roof again. Once was enough.”

“Tony!” Steve exclaimed.

“Oh, leave off, Steve,” Tony snapped. “Do it, J.”

“He deserves worse,” JARVIS said grudgingly, though the ice did stop.

“What did he do to deserve your ire?” Loki asked, frowning at the Einherjar who remained in a ball on the floor, huddling away from the room's occupants.

“He called you ergi, Mr Liesmith,” JARVIS replied.

Loki’s face immediately wiped clean of all emotion. “Ah.”

“Yeah, and he won’t be doing it ever again, will you?” asked Tony, his tone bright but laced with poison, stepping forward to stand threateningly over the Einherji.

“N–no, Man of Iron,” Rolf said. “I shall not.”

Tony grinned, all teeth and biting glares. “You see? I knew you’d come around to my side.”

“Ergi.” Thor spat the word out like the slur it obviously was, and stalked across the room to Tony and Rolf.

“What does that word mean?” Steve asked.

“Unmanly,” Thor replied. “It is a grave insult, for men who prefer the company of other men over women in their beds.”

Steve’s face instantly darkened, and Tony knew that Rolf wouldn’t be walking away unscathed. Tony had seen Steve respond to slurs on the streets before, and– well, it was always ever so pretty. Tony had the video of Steve decking a particularly offensive reporter who had slandered Tony and Loki’s relationship saved on his phone for moments where he needed a grin.

“Also,” Thor continued harshly, “Men who chose to wield seiðr over physical weapons, and any others with characteristics deemed unwarriorlike." 

“Some Asgardians see seiðr the same way that some soldiers thought of snipers in the wars,” Tony told Steve, and Steve’s eyes flashed in anger.

“This is the sort of person Asgard allows in their army?” Steve asked Thor.

“Not for much longer,” Thor spat.

“Prince Thor!” Rolf exclaimed. “You—“

“Quiet,” Thor snapped. “I will not allow such insult against my brother to go unpunished. He is far more a warrior than you ever shall be.”

Loki actually _flinched_ , and Tony moved to stand beside him in solidarity. Pepper watched him move, her gaze soft.

“Look here, Rolf,” Thor said, but he didn’t get much further before Rolf muttered:

“Hródolf _._ My name is _Hródolf_.”

“…all right,” Thor said slowly. “Hródolf.” He extended the syllables and stressed the name in entirely different places than the Einherji had, and Tony was quite sure that Thor was making it as obvious as possible that he had absolutely no clue who Rolf was. Rolf’s expression was utterly broken and it was quite clear that Thor’s complete dislike of him was hitting him harder than anything else had until this point, and Tony was hit with the sudden urge to buy Thor a bunch of flowers, or maybe an island. “I am going to speak to the Allfather upon my return to Asgard,” Thor continued, “and I will be _strongly_ recommending your removal. Thank you, for correcting me on your name. It will make the process of your dismissal far easier.”

Rolf’s eyes grew deader and deader with every word, and Tony was almost shaking with mirth. Loki, meanwhile, was as tense as a bowstring, almost vibrating at his side as he gave Thor all of his attention.

“Hey,” Tony said, reaching out to place a comforting hand on Loki’s arm. When Loki looked down at him in question, Tony smiled softly. “Breathe.”

Loki didn’t respond verbally, and Tony worried for a moment that his attempt to comfort would be met with indifference or worse. But instead, Loki wrapped an arm around the smaller man and drew him close against his side. His gaze flickered back to Thor but his hand curled into Tony’s shirt, and Tony leaned into Loki’s embrace.

The combination of JARVIS’ assault and Thor’s words had reduced Rolf to little more than a shivering mess, and it was easy enough for Steve to grip the Einherji's shoulder tightly and drag him upright.

“I think we need to have a chat about what happens when you break into an Avenger’s home and disparage his character,” Steve growled, beginning to lead Rolf toward the door. “I understand that you will face Asgardian justice, but these are _my_ teammates that you’ve insulted, and I believe I have a right to set you straight.” He leaned in to look Rolf in the eye. "If there's one thing I don't like, it's a bully."

“Wait,” said Pepper, and Steve turned to look at her incredulously. “We don’t even know why he came here. Shouldn’t we find that out first, before we send him away?”

Steve shrugged in agreement, and they all turned to Rolf.

“I came to tell the Man of Iron that Prince Loki has escaped once again,” Rolf said stiffly.

Tony blinked, and then snorted. “I know,” he said, glancing up at Loki with wide eyes and theatrical exaggeration before turning back to Rolf. “I was _there_.”

“You are definitely not the man I thought you were,” Rolf replied.

“Good,” Tony said back. “I’ll lose no sleep over that.”

“Okay,” said Steve, pulling Rolf harshly out of the room. “Time to go.”

“Us too, Thor,” said Pepper. When Thor looked to her curiously, she tilted her head toward where Loki and Tony were standing, still entwined. When Thor inclined his head, Pepper gave Tony a small smile and then led the way out of the house, Steve dragging his detainee along behind her.

“Bye, Rolf,” said Tony, giving him a mocking wave. “Hope you never grace us with your presence again.”

Thor went to follow the others, but Loki stopped him with a question.

“Did you mean what you said?” he asked softly, and Thor nodded.

“Yes. I was wrong in our youth to mock your tricks.”

“You have mocked them more recently than that,” Loki said, but his words were free of bite.

Thor sighed. “I am sorry that I did not protect you from such things,” he said. “A member of the Einherjar should not think he can get away with insulting a Prince of Asgard. Perhaps if I had stopped it before… Well.”

Loki shook his head. “It would not have helped,” he said. “But I thank you all the same.”

Thor’s lips quirked, and for a moment Tony thought that he might try to pull Loki in for a hug. But Loki shifted so that Tony was held in front of him like a shield, and the action seemed to catch at something in Thor’s expression, cracking at the smile and bringing forth something colder.

“Loki, please,” Thor said, his eyes darkening as they flickered to Tony and back. “Do not think this is the end of our previous conversation. Nothing good will come of this.”

Loki’s expression immediately twisted into a snarl, and Tony was quick to jump in.

“Nothing good?” Tony asked. “Really, Point Break?”

Thor looked between them carefully. “Perhaps not,” he said with a soft sigh. “But you’re going to need to be prepared for what will come from this.”

“It will be worth it,” Loki said harshly.

This time, when Thor’s eyes slid to Tony, he was wearing a small, but real smile. “Yes,” he said. “I think it might be.”

“Thor!” Pepper called from outside. “ _Now._ ”

“You had better go,” Loki said, still tense, though Tony thought him slightly freer than before.

Thor inclined his head. “Good luck, Brother. I do hope that I’m wrong.”

Once Thor was out of sight Loki moved them toward the couch and collapsed upon it, too fucking exhausted to do much else. Tony was a little put out– he’d had plenty of fun plans, and the gang of house invaders had effectively managed to derail them. But he couldn’t bring himself to be too disappointed. He was comfortable, and he was content. So they sat side by side, leaning against each other, and the air between them was light. Loki seemed content to sit in silence, but despite the tiredness there was still one thing that had been niggling at Tony’s mind, an itch that he couldn’t quite scratch. He knew it would continue to annoy him if he didn’t solve the mystery. So, deciding to listen to the little voice in his mind that sounded remarkably yet unsurprisingly like Pepper, Tony angled himself towards Loki, ready to get down to the bottom of this the old fashioned way– by manning up and collecting the courage to just fucking _ask_.

“You know,” said Tony, “You still haven’t told me how the hell you managed to get that apple under the Einherjar’s noses. I know you didn’t lie to them when you said you didn’t steal anything, but– I can’t work out _how_.”

Loki’s eyes flashed with mirth, and Tony knew that this time, there would be no hidden truths. “I told you that what I was trying to steal was heavily guarded,” he said.

“Yeah, I know– the _third_ best security system in Asgard, or whatever,” Tony recited. “So?”

“So, despite the magical barrier, I would have been able to steal from Freyja without too much difficulty,” Loki continued with a smirk. “Third best has nothing on me, dear.”

“But then…” Tony’s eyes widened as he figured out what Loki was getting at. “The apple didn’t belong to Freyja, did it?”

“No,” Loki confirmed. “They are grown by Freyja’s next door neighbour, Iðunn. She is the proud owner of Asgard’s _first_ best security system, as you would say, her treasures guarded more closely than even those in Odin’s vault– at least since the Destroyer has yet to be replaced.”

“So instead of trying to get directly into her place, you simply went around,” Tony realised.

“It is well known that Freyja guards her garden jealously,” Loki agreed. “It was a calculated gamble that Iðunn might have focused more on her outer walls to the detriment of the inner, believing it to be already partially protected by nature of backing onto Freyja’s. It was a formidable defence, but nothing compared to what she has in place on the outer walls of the garden. Once I was on Freyja’s side of the wall, it only took a little concentration and a small amount of power to pass through.”

“That’s why you needed the Einherjar,” Tony realised. “You needed them riled up enough to create a distraction while you broke down the magical defences on the wall.”

Loki nodded sharply. “I tried, once, to use illusions, but that required too much energy and it split my focus, and I was forced to flee through Alfheim. But with your aid it was easy, and once I was through the wall there was no trouble in the slightest. Iðunn has grown complacent in past centuries, as she believes her defences impenetrable. And while the outer walls are indeed so, the orchard itself is not warded in any way at all.”

There was a slight pause while Tony let it sink in.

“You know, it’s scary sometimes,” he said after a bit. “How smart you are.”

“Scary?” Loki asked, raising a brow and leaning in, the corners of his lips curving upward.

“Hot,” Tony corrected with a serious nod. “Yeah, you’re right, I definitely meant hot.”

“Hmm.” Loki’s eyes glinted dangerously. “I am not entirely sure that I believe you.”

When Tony pressed forward to meet Loki in the middle, they kissed slowly, languidly, an expression and confirmation of their devotion rather than a prelude to anything more. They were tired and they were drained, but the smooth intimacy was something they both could draw comfort from. Everything else would come later– he and Loki had all the time in the world, and for now, just simply being in each others’ arms was exactly what they needed.

—•—

When Tony roused the next morning, it was slowly and without a caring thought. He was warm and he was safe, and he felt better than he had in a long while. An errant thought told him that it probably was the power of the apple, still working to heal all the damage he had wrought on his body over the course of a hard life. But he also wondered if maybe it was something different. That maybe it was thanks to the fact that when he had drifted asleep he had done so in Loki’s cool embrace, held tightly amongst whispered promises of long lives and a happy future unmarred by imbalance.

The cocoon he felt around him now wasn’t Loki but a twist of cotton sheets, but Tony was still smiling as he reached across the bed, his hand stretching out, searching and finding—

Nothing.

Tony sat up quickly, staring at the empty space. There was no way, no way Loki had done it again, had _left him again_. Disbelieving, Tony threw back the covers and grabbed his shirt.

“Sir,” said JARVIS, but Tony waved a dismissive hand through the air, too concerned with dressing to reply.

He was still pulling the shirt down as he headed down the hallway, and as such he didn’t see what he was walking into until a cool hand gripped his shoulder, balancing him before he tripped over the other man and went careening into the floor.

“Good morning, Anthony,” Loki said, holding out the mug he held in his free hand. “I thought you might want this.”

Tony stared at the red and gold monstrosity, the mug that was shaped to look like Iron Man’s head but had the dimensions all wrong. It had been a birthday gift from Clint and Tony hated it, except that it was twice the size of any conventional mug and therefore Tony used it every morning. It was full to the brim of coffee that was black as night and, Tony knew, stronger than any normal person would be able to cope with, but exactly how he liked it. He knew that it would be, because Loki was holding the mug out with an earnest expression on his face—

Maybe it was the fact that he had only been awake for two minutes but it was then, staring at the stupid mug full of coffee that Loki had left the comfort of the bed to make that Tony was suddenly hit with a wash of adoration so strong that it nearly brought him to his knees. And in that moment, he wanted nothing more than to make sure Loki knew it.

“I love you,” Tony vowed, the words more than just simple words.

Loki grinned, his eyes shining green. “I should make you coffee more often,” he said.

“You should.” Tony found himself nodding, his gaze skimming over Loki’s face, drinking in every little detail. “ _Every_ morning.”

Tony thought his words perfectly acceptable, in the situation. But Loki seemed to catch something in them, and a soft crease formed upon his brow. He brought his free hand to cup Tony’s cheek, his thumb tracing the edge of his goatee. Tony recognised the gesture as one Loki often used to calm himself just as much as it was for Tony’s sake, and so he leaned into it more than willingly.

“I swear to you, Anthony,” Loki said unwaveringly, “I shall never willingly leave you.”

Before, Tony might have felt sad about the inclusion of the loophole– worried that Loki was leaving himself an out, perhaps. But now, Tony knew differently. That wasn’t an out, that was an assurance, an added clause not to create an escape but to solidify the vow, to make it that much more difficult to break. And yeah, people changed. Maybe they would, too, in the frankly terrifyingly long time they now had ahead of them. But for now, it was the truth, and that?

Well, that was more than enough.

“I know,” Tony said, leaning over the ridiculous mug so that he could press a soft kiss to Loki’s lips. “And now, I can promise you exactly the same thing.”

Loki’s answering smile was blinding, and despite the apples and buildings and walls that he had recently encountered, Tony didn’t think he’d ever seen anything quite so bright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we are, another one done :D I have half an idea for a short fic to tack onto this series, and then after that... well, we'll see how I feel after I watch infinity war on friday. ~~If you don't hear from me after that, assume that it has killed me.~~
> 
> Thank you so, so much to all of you who have commented and kudosed and read this fic!


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